'I knew I had to go fast': Van Aert pays for aggressive Vuelta time trial approach

Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) stated that he “exploded a bit” on stage 18 of the Vuelta a España in the individual time trial after finishing in fifth place, 19 seconds behind stage winner Stefan Küng (Tudor). 

After setting his stall out early with the fourth-fastest time at the first checkpoint, Van Aert was firmly in the hunt for his first time trial victory since the Belgian Championships back in 2023. 

However, Van Aert was unable to close the deficit he had on Küng and drifted to 19 seconds behind the Swiss rider at the finish, despite a strong effort. 

Speaking after the finish, Van Aert explained that he could sense that he was fading in the finale, but held no regrets about his effort and his decision to start fast. 

“I have no regrets. I started off fast, but I knew I had to go fast to be able to go for the stage win," Van Aert said. 

"And then, in the last bit, I exploded a little bit. And I knew already by feeling I was slowing down too much to win the stage, but it was nice to try it.”

Van Aert also needed to finish in the top nine on the stage to ensure that the green jersey is mathematically secured within the Visma camp, via him or Matthew Brennan (Visma | Lease a Bike), whom he now leads by 67 points.

The Belgian admitted the situation wasn’t something that was on his mind, though it gives him a nice feeling for the remaining stages. 

“Ah yeah, not even,” said Van Aert when asked whether he was thinking about the green jersey ahead of the effort.

“But yeah, I think also not mathematically, but I knew Matthew [Brennan] is the only one still really close. So, yeah, super nice to go with that bonus to the last couple of stages”

Van Aert also indicated that the team have their eyes set on adding to their tally of seven victories, with multiple different options for the two remaining mountain stages and Vuelta finale in Granada on Sunday.

“Nice to be able to focus on I think mainly Sepp [Kuss] and Jørgen [Nordhagen] who have maybe a chance for another stage win in the coming days,” said Van Aert. “I have my eyes on Sunday.”