"For Wout this is a huge relief" - Merijn Zeeman delighted to see Van Aert return to winning ways on stage 3 of the Vuelta a Espana
Cycling
Six months is a long time to wait for someone was used to winning race as Wout van Aert, but that's how long it's been since his triumph back in February at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. On stage 3 of the 2024 Vuelta a Espana though, the Belgian superstar returned to winning ways with a powerful sprint in Castelo Branco.
"For Wout this is a huge relief," admitted Team Visma | Lease a Bike's Merijn Zeeman afterwards in conversation with Eurosport, admitting that the last six months have been a struggle for one of the team's star riders. "After everything that has happened and second places in the Tour de France. He was really looking forward to this."
Clearly, more than just joy from Van Aert himself, the whole Team Visma | Lease a Bike set up were delighted see that winning smile return to the face of the Belgian after such a long wait. “The boys were really determined to make it – in these warm conditions – into a sprint," Zeeman explains. "Robert Gesink really did a great job. Just like all the other riders.”
The choice for a Vuelta a Espana debut for Van Aert wasn't a last minute decision either. "In the winter there was already a plan to go to the Vuelta with Wout, normally in combination with the Giro d'Italia. After the rehabilitation the question was whether it was still feasible in combination with the Tour," Zeeman reveals. "Wout really wanted to start this Vuelta. He doesn't see the Tour as a preparation race, he just wants to race full out. Winning a stage was the first goal, but the points jersey is also a big goal. He will fight for it every day."
Van Aert himself admitted a great relief in his own post-stage interview following his win. "It's worth it to be patient," the Team Visma | Lease a Bike man reflected. "It's been a while but this feels so good!"
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Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
- How can you use a photo post incident to judge the incident itself (which is not hard to find if you’re prepared to invest the same amount of time in searching as writing that comment? It’s harsh but technically right even though this or worse is not always sanctioned in every race. The two things that went against MS (who unfortunately for her would still have won without making her mistake) are that it was not a bunch sprint where there could have been an overlooked incident or mitigating circumstances explaining a deviation. Everything was focused on just those 2, Schreiber was riding beautifully balanced which made her sudden deviation look unnatural stroke as if it could have been in some part intentional whilst she was slowly drifting ever closer towards the barrier to a point that would have reached obstruction level. In her defence, it might have been the realisation she was heading towards that that made her react suddenly and caused the deviation involuntarily. In any case, congratulations to her for the ride of her life, in people’s minds she will be credited for it.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Good boy Obviously doesn’t need that much help dealing with pressure, as some have suggested. Wiser (and humbler) than many far further along their careers. About offering him the moon, recently someone came up with an explanation of the downfall of a football great (either referring to Maradona or Portuguese Ronaldo) saying it was kind of normal after coming back from the moon, except that others, including some who actually did go to the moon like Armstrong (Neil in case anyone is too switched off to realise) didn’t go through any of the same motions after coming back. A lot of how you deal with situations has less to do with the situation than with your character.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- I think that they're not really used to dealing with this type of incident in a cyclocross race, and the situation has been magnified because it was a race for a championship title. It's very unfortunate that the race had to be decided in this way.
santiagobenites07-11-2026 - Seriously why do they keep doing stupid things like this. Its one thing to relegate when the placings are minor, when the action is blatant. But when it is ambiguous, why dont they at least take advice from some higher up to avoid embarrassing themselves. This is similar to the Halland goal when his teammate was clearly offside and interfered in play and VAR gave them the goal. if you dont have evidence you cannot convict. Even for doping they have these rulesabstractengineer07-11-2026
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A very happy Wout van Aert reacts to his first win since February! #LaVuelta24
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