'I had zero doubts': Van Aert gets his chance as Visma switches Vuelta strategy

Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) praised his team’s commitment to his chances on stage 10 of the Vuelta a España, despite finishing fourth in the sprint, insisting he had “zero doubts” that his opportunity to lead the team would come.

After supporting Matthew Brennan (Visma | Lease a Bike) to two stage victories in his Grand Tour debut in the opening week, it was clear that the roles were reversed for the stage 10 run-in to Elche de la Sierra. 

On the Puerto de Socovos inside the final 30km, Brennan was particularly active following and marking multiple attacks. 

Over the summit and into the final two kilometres Brennan pulled at the front of the peloton, closing down a last-ditch effort from Walter Calzoni (Pinarello-Q36.5), to try and help ensure that Van Aert would have a clean opportunity to sprint. 

“Matthew is a great guy, and we’ve helped each other out many times,” Van Aert said. “I had zero doubts that my moment would come.”

Ultimately, after a late attack under the flamme rouge from Yevgeniy Fedorov (XDS Astana) and Xabier Mikel Azparren (Pinarello-Q36.5) threatened to upset the apple cart, Van Aert would get his opportunity to sprint, but ran out of gas to finish fourth behind surprise winner Bastien Tronchon (Groupama-FDJ United).

Van Aert admitted he was disappointed not to finish off the team’s work, particularly after a demanding finale in which Visma had fought to keep the race together

“I was frustrated at first, but mostly disappointed,” he said. “You want to finish it off, but there wasn’t enough left in my legs for the sprint.”

He also acknowledged that his positioning played a part in the result. Van Aert was too far back approaching the final corner, 650 metres from the line, and had to spend valuable energy moving through the field

“I had to put in a half-sprint just to fight my way into position, and after that, I didn’t have a real sprint left in me,” he said. “It’s a real shame.”

Despite the disappointment, Van Aert praised his teammates for their efforts on a difficult day.

“I can’t fault the guys at all. Everyone gave it their all,” he said.

The Belgian retains his healthy lead in the race for the green jersey and now leads the points classification by 67 points from Alessandro Romele (XDS Astana). Brennan sits third, 76 points behind his teammate, leaving Visma in full control of the classification as the Vuelta reaches its mid-point.