"I don't care if whole Belgium turns against us" - Visma DS explains that Wout Van Aert simply wasn't good enough to compete

Jonas Vingegaard carried the flag of Visma | Lease a Bike with a podium result in the second stage of Tour de France, but he wasn't the intended leader of his team for the stage with finish in Boulogne-sur-Mer. But where was Wout Van Aert? Way off the front...

Grischa Niermann provided an update on the Belgian to Sporza. "There is nothing wrong with Wout, but he was sick before the Belgian Cycling Championship," the Visma | Lease a Bike team manager reiterated the excuse we have already heard before the National Championships.

But the Belgian at 90% shape is still an invaluable piece of the Visma puzzle: "Then people say that it suits him not to ride there, but he was really sick and that is - just like in the Giro - not the optimal preparation. I don't think we have to worry, but today it was too much."

Van Aert rode at the front on the penultimate climb, but played no role after that. "No, he didn't indicate that it wasn't going to work. Maybe he wanted to fool himself a bit and test himself on that penultimate climb. But on that last climb he just couldn't follow."

"You don't know something like that in advance, you feel it in the race and especially in the final when it really matters. That was it unfortunately, but Wout will get over it. And there will be more chances for him," Niermann still believes in the Belgian all-rounder.

It's not that Van Aert wouldn't get his chance if the legs were there today. "We had the plan that Wout would sprint today, but unfortunately that didn't work out."

"I don't care if whole Belgium turns against us. A Wout in his very best form is also the Wout who gets his own chances and can also fight for stages in the Tour. He always repays that by being the best teammate."

"He has proven that 100 times, also this year in the Giro. For me it is not even a question of whether Wout will be allowed to take his chance. If we want the very best Wout in the Tour, then that is also a Wout who gets chances in stages."