'It worked out perfectly': How Van Aert's plan came together in Vuelta finale

Van Aert said the attack that won him stage 13 of the Vuelta a España in Loja was one he had marked before the start, and that Team Visma | Lease a Bike had loaded the day's breakaway on purpose.

The Belgian went clear with 3.8 kilometres to go and he beat Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step) to the line in the two-up sprint to claim his fifteenth Grand Tour stage win.

"The plan was to go in the break. I think it was a very difficult stage to control," Van Aert said. "We knew with Matthew, me, Bruno and Christophe, we had some guys that are very good in a stage like this. We tried to be up there with a few riders so we could always play it, and that worked out perfectly."

Matthew Brennan was in the front group from the start. Van Aert and Bruno Armirail spent much of the day sheltered behind before making the junction to go clear.

"Me and Bruno were in the wheels for a long part of the day because we had Matthew in the front group. We could bridge over on the last climb," he said. "Me and Matthew in a group like that, we both have a chance but we're also able to sacrifice it for each other. We kept on attacking and the final attack worked."

The timing of his attack was deliberate. Van Aert had studied the profile and identified the last rise before for the final kilometres.

"I had it a little bit in my mind, yes. I saw the profile and I knew there was this last kicker before coming into the village," he said. "This distance, a lot of the time, is the moment when people start to think about the sprint. If you're able to open up a gap then they don't want to close it for each other anymore. It was close enough to the finish to be worth it."

Paret-Peintre was the only rider able to follow, took turns at the front and then sat on the wheel before opening his sprint inside the last 300 metres. He remains one Vuelta stage short of winning at all three Grand Tours and the Belgian was full of praise for the Frenchman.

"Valentin was a nice companion, he gave me a few turns and it was nice to battle to the line together," Van Aert said.

Van Aert also led over the category one Alto de la Venta de la Cebada at 31.2 kilometres, taking the maximum ten points ahead of Santiago Buitrago. He extends his lead in the points classification and sits second in the mountains competition behind the Colombian.