Wout van Aert rules out tilt at another Tour de France green jersey

Wout van Aert has revealed that the points classification is not on his mind heading into the opening stage of the Tour de France in Lille on July 5. 

The Visma | Lease a Bike rider won the green jersey back in 2022, in an edition of the race where he won three stages, including one in the yellow jersey, and played a significant part in his teammate Jonas Vingegaard's overall victory. The Belgian has illustrated his commitment to helping the Dane try to win the Tour for the third time by foregoing any ambitions of the points classification and will look at individual stages to target for his own personal success.

"I'm not thinking about it. It's hard to score points in the flat sprints, and combining it with our GC goal is difficult," Van Aert said. "Going for green takes a lot of work every day. I've won it before, and I enjoyed that, but now I'm focused on stage wins."

"It's going to be hard to do anything solo. The GC with Jonas is the top priority, but the stages that suit me are also important for Jonas - to keep him at the front."

Van Aert is a rider who has shown that he can win on a multitude of terrains. In fact, in 2021, he became one of only three riders who have won a mountain, sprint, and individual time trial stage in a single Tour de France, joining Eddy Merckx (1974) and Bernard Hinault (1979). 

Looking at the stages that could suit him best in the 2025 route, Van Aert has designs on tougher stages rather than the sprint days. 

"It depends. I'll have better chances in the more punchy stages. Some days will feel like Classics, with tricky finales in that first week. That suits me well," Van Aert said.  "It's a different Tour than in past years, with fewer mountain stages early on, but my mindset is the same. We always come to the Tour with the same main goal."

Van Aert missed the Belgian road race championships due to illness, leading to potential doubts about his shape ahead of the start in Lille on Saturday, but he hopes to be at full health again once the racing begins.

"I don't feel quite as strong as I did last week, but I've recovered, and I hope it won't affect me during the race," Van Aert said.

Last year, Van Aert appeared at the Tour de France before taking on the Vuelta a España, where he won three stages and led both the points and mountains classification before crashing out on stage 16. This year, he played a crucial role in Simon Yates' victory at the Giro d'Italia in May, and he was asked whether having a Grand Tour already in the legs could have a similar impact to last year's Vuelta a España.

"I asked to do two Grand Tours, so hopefully it works out like the Vuelta last year," he said. "But you can't order good legs on demand. We'll have to see."

The 2025 Tour route also passes through northern France in the opening week, and Van Aert was victorious in the yellow jersey in Calais when the race visited the region in 2022. There are other familiar sites ahead. The Tour visits Mont Ventoux on stage 16, and Van Aert was the winner of a stage that featured two ascents of the iconic climb in 2021.

"You're mentioning two of my most memorable wins I would say. It was pretty special winning in the yellow jersey and also the Ventoux win is something that really sticks," Van Aert said. 

"It's pretty fun that we visit both areas in this Tour, and for sure it will cross my mind when we pass it."