‘I’m not like Pogacar’: Wout van Aert makes unusual appeal after losing sunglasses in perfect lead out

Wout van Aert had spent much of stage 5 of the Vuelta a España keeping Matthew Brennan out of trouble. Somewhere in the frantic finale, however, the Belgian lost something of his own.

His sunglasses.

“What a shame,” Van Aert joked after the finish speaking to Eurosport. He explained that the glasses had already felt slightly loose before they eventually made their escape. “When I looked behind, they flew away.”

Van Aert could at least see the funny side.

“I’m not like Pogačar, that he can take new glasses every day,” he said with a smile. “If somebody finds them, please bring them back.”

It was a lighthearted end to a day on which Van Aert had again been put to work for Brennan, who sprinted to his second victory of this Vuelta in Roquetes.

Visma | Lease a Bike had controlled much of the closing phase after the Puerto de Paüls removed several potential sprint rivals from contention. Kaden Groves, Mads Pedersen and Ben Turner were among those distanced, while Brennan survived the climb with a strong collection of teammates around him.

From there, Visma took charge.

Van Aert helped shut down late moves before returning to the front for the lead out. Inside the final kilometre, he guided Christophe Laporte and Brennan beneath the flamme rouge, before Laporte took over and launched the Briton towards the line.

Asked afterwards whether his new role made him something of a super domestique, Van Aert had little interest in making the afternoon about himself. With Brennan still there in the front group, he said, the team had an obvious card to play.

“When you have [Brennan] in a group like that, that is the best card to play,” Van Aert said. He added that he did not even need to watch the replay to know how his teammate had finished the job.

Brennan’s victory backed up his stage 2 success in Manosque and continued a remarkable Grand Tour debut.

For Van Aert, there was no personal win to celebrate, but the satisfaction was not far removed.

Asked whether seeing his teammate win could feel as good as winning himself, Van Aert paused before answering.

“Yeah, it comes close.”