Van Aert admits Pogacar was below his best on Montmartre

In a recent interview with Knack, Van Aert said the circumstances on the day mattered just as much as the effort.

“I have to be honest: he was slightly below his best, maybe because of that knee injury,” he said, referring to Pogačar. It is a striking thing to say about a moment that was widely sold as a straight duel between two of the sport’s most complete riders. Van Aert, though, is not interested in turning it into a legend. He would rather explain what it felt like and what was going on around it.

The stage itself was unusual. Instead of the familiar parade into a sprint on the Champs Élysées, organisers added multiple ascents of Montmartre, turning the finale into a proper race through the narrow streets beneath the Sacré Cœur. 

Rain made everything more precarious, and with the general classification neutralised because of the conditions, a large part of the peloton chose to keep it safe and ride it in.

Van Aert returned to those details when discussing the final hour. “Partly, yes, because I had set my sights on that stage win,” he said. “But on the other hand, for my abilities, I didn’t do anything extraordinary. Very difficult, but ‘only’ an hour of real racing. I wasn’t completely exhausted for a week afterwards.”

He also hinted at a pragmatic mindset from Pogačar, who had little to gain and plenty to lose. The Slovenian, already in control of the general classification, was unlikely to gamble everything on slick roads for the prestige of a final stage victory.

“The awareness that you expose yourself to risks whose consequences you can carry for the rest of your life is unpleasant,” Van Aert reflected. “Last year it felt like I was obliged to take risks, while I didn’t want to.”

For Van Aert, the psychological value of the win may have mattered even more than the sporting headline. The Tour had been a difficult one, with limited personal opportunities and little room for individual reward alongside broader team ambitions. 

That is why the Montmartre finish stayed with him. “Imagine if Tadej had dropped me there on Montmartre, after a difficult Tour without any personal success or a chance at the overall victory with Jonas, then I would have gone home with a bad feeling,” he said.