"I can't explain how deep I had to go" - Wout van Aert plays a pivotal role for another Visma Grand Tour win

Wout van Aert was a rider that for months leading up to the Giro (and until stage 9) was heavily criticized, pushed down and questioned constantly. The Belgian rider leaves the race with an epic comeback victory in Siena, a perfect leadout for Olav Kooij and now the role of a perfect teammate for Simon Yates in the day that Team Visma | Lease a Bike has won the Giro d'Italia.

In words to Eurosport following the stage, the Belgian was astonished with what the team had achieved. "It's crazy. We certainly hadn't thought of this this morning. It was such a brave effort from Simon to go all-in from that point. I love it when riders don't ride for a place of honor. I take my hat off to him".

Van Aert was in the day's breakaway, and with neither UAE Team Emirates - XRG or EF Education-EasyPost sending men to the front of the race, it gave Visma the possibility of racing with satelite riders. The Belgian, whose form has been on the rise all race long, would be the perfect rouleur for after the Colle delle Finestre - regardless of Yates being on the attack of defense.

"Once I was in the leading group and we had such a big lead, I knew I had a small chance of surviving the Finestre. I was valuable after that, but it is an effort of the entire team". Van Aert then put in a very strong climb up the Finestre, a difficult feat for a rider of almost 80Kg.

"The Finestre was a climb that we had not yet had in this Giro: steep for an hour, where it would depend much more on a long effort. And that was our plan anyway, to make it a long effort". Away from all the explosive action behind, he rode the ascent by himself throughout the remainders of the breakaway, and with Yates gapping his two rivals in the overall classification, Visma's plan came along to absolute perfection.

"I can't explain how deep I had to go. Halfway up the climb, I started to believe I could make it. From that moment on, my focus was only on the top, which was the hardest part of the day". His work for Yates, to the limit, not only would extend the gap to Yates' chasers, but provided a huge psychological blow to the Del Toro/Carapaz group that would have to hit the wind on flat terrain.

This additionally led to Del Toro having little hope of defending the pink jersey, which combined with Carapaz' reluctance to work following the climb to Finestre, led to a standstill that favoured the Dutch team.