Wout van Aert reveals hardest Tour de France moment as Vuelta ambition grows

The Belgian says watching Visma | Lease a Bike win the opening team time trial was the hardest moment of a Tour de France he had expected to be racing himself.

Instead of competing in France, Van Aert followed the race while rebuilding his fitness at an altitude training camp in Livigno. Although missing the Tour was initially difficult, the 31-year-old admitted he came to terms with the situation more quickly than expected.

“The team time trial on the first day was the hardest part,” Van Aert told Het Nieuwsblad. “I already really wanted to be there, and then we won as well. After that, I accepted the reality and did not think about it too often.”

Van Aert had appeared at every edition of the Tour since making his debut in 2019. His absence therefore created an unfamiliar July, but also gave him the opportunity to prepare for a different set of objectives later in the season.

“After seven years at the Tour, there was also some value in experiencing a completely different month of July,” he said. “This time, that meant going to Livigno for an altitude camp.”

Van Aert did not organise his training schedule around the Tour broadcasts, although he found it almost impossible to avoid the race entirely.

“The Tour is still the Tour,” he said. “You only have to open your phone in the evening and you immediately know what happened, whether you want to or not.”

He also followed the difficult moments experienced by his Visma teammates, including the crash that ended Jonas Vingegaard’s race.

Van Aert was travelling in a team car after training when the news arrived. A live stream was quickly put on, but there was little conversation once the seriousness of the situation became clear.

“The rest of the drive was extremely quiet,” he said.

Vingegaard’s withdrawal left Tadej Pogačar without the rider Van Aert regarded as his main rival for the overall victory. He believes Visma still had the confidence to challenge before the crash changed the complexion of the race.

“It was incredibly unfortunate for Jonas, but also for the Tour,” Van Aert said. “The main challenger to Pogačar disappeared. In recent years, our team has been one of the few that races to win instead of racing for the other places.”

Van Aert’s Tour absence followed an elbow problem that rapidly developed into a serious infection at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in June.

Antibiotics initially appeared to be the correct treatment, but the inflammation continued to spread through his arm. Doctors eventually decided surgery was necessary.

“I underestimated the signals a little,” he said. “Only when I had to stay in hospital and return for checks every two days did I realise it was more than a small infection.”

The illness and medication caused a greater loss of fitness than Van Aert had expected. His first weeks back in training were particularly demanding as he attempted to rebuild his basic condition in the middle of the season.

“There were many sessions where I came home completely exhausted,” he said. “In winter, you are used to starting from zero. Halfway through the year, it is much more frustrating.”

Van Aert will return to racing at the Tour of Denmark as he begins the final phase of his preparation for the Vuelta a España.

The Danish race will provide the competitive rhythm he believes he needs before completing another training block. He will also contest the Belgian gravel championships in Grobbendonk, which he sees as both an enjoyable race and a demanding workout.

The main objective, however, is the Vuelta.

The Spanish Grand Tour begins with a nine kilometre individual time trial in Monaco., giving Van Aert an immediate opportunity to compete for a stage result and potentially move into contention for the leader’s jersey.

“It is definitely a goal to give it everything,” he said. “Whether winning the stage is realistic will depend on which specialists are there. It would be nice to be close in the general classification because the second stage should also suit me.”

Van Aert has previously worn both the yellow jersey at the Tour de France and the red jersey at the Vuelta, and admitted that the prospect of wearing a Grand Tour leader’s jersey again is an added source of motivation.

“It is somewhere in the back of my mind that I would like to wear the leader’s jersey again,” he said.

His preparation for the opening time trial has not been ideal. The wound on his elbow only recently healed properly, meaning he has spent limited time in an aerodynamic position on his time trial bike.

“Putting pressure on the elbow was still very painful,” Van Aert said. “But we still have a month, and we are definitely going to work on it.”

The early stages appear to offer several possibilities for a rider with Van Aert’s combination of speed, power and climbing ability. He nevertheless stressed that the Vuelta will require a high level of overall fitness, not only sharpness in the opening days.

“The motivation is certainly still there,” he said. “I went to Italy on July 1 and spent almost seventeen days at altitude. You do not spend a month away from home unless you are ambitious.”

“The Vuelta is extremely difficult. It is a route where you need to have very good condition. That is what we are working towards now.”