"I know I lost time in the corners" - 8th place in time trial keeps Wout Van Aert in contention for red jersey
Cycling
Once a feared time trial specialist (who remains proficient in the discipline to this day), Wout Van Aert cannot be fully satisfied with his 8th place in the opening time trial of 2026 Vuelta a Espana. The course in Monaco has been quite unique while the distance (9.4 kilometers) played into the cards of many of Van Aert's rivals. And yet, the Visma | Lease a Bike rider certainly aimed closer to today's winner Tadej Pogacar with eyes set on his red jersey.
Tasting the F1 circuit was special
In his post-stage commentary, the Belgian admitted that, albeit beautiful, the unique course in Monaco was at times too technical to his liking.
"What did I think of the course? The surroundings were very unique; it was special to be able to ride here on those closed roads and the F1 circuit. I enjoyed that too. But at certain points it was too technical and a bit on the edge, for example because of the park and the marina."
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Still, the Belgian did not want to blame the slightly disappointing result on course designers. "No, it is absolutely no excuse. I am simply satisfied with my time trial, and I have to be. I gave it my all, but I know I lost time in the corners," he said. "I took slightly less risk there, but that is my own choice. My legs felt good, so once again: I am satisfied with this."
All eyes on red jersey
Currently 9 seconds behind Tadej Pogacar in general classifcation, Wout Van Aert will hope to move into race lead at the end of the second stage from Monaco to Manosque. The undulating profile will hopefully turn out too hard for purer sprinters and then it could come down to a duel with Mads Pedersen for the 10 bonification seconds. Or Tadej Pogacar completely flips the script.
Wout Van Aert at the finish of 2026 Vuelta a Espana stage 1
"I certainly wanted to finish within that margin," Van Aert added. "Of course, I started to fight for the win, but being close is also satisfying."
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- It doesnt take a genius to understand that Pogi is 1 level above and Pogi is younger that Jonas, so Jonas will not win under ordinary circumstances. Pogi has to crack hard for Jonas to win. It doesn't matter whether you defend Jonas or not , facts remain facts. Jonas himself says his numbers are better than 2022/2023, so Jonas is more or less optimized and we are just see the stochastic variation due to other factors. I think he will retire along with Pedersen in WC denmarkabstractengineer13-11-2026
- They only raced each other during the 2026 Tour, but here's a few metrics to look at. Stage 3 (Granollers to Les Angles): Pogačar won the stage, finishing 2 seconds ahead of Vingegaard (2nd). Del Toro finished 24 seconds behind Stage 6 (Pau to Gavarnie-Gedre / Col du Tourmalet): Pogačar won solo, Vingegaard finished 2nd (losing 2:38), and Del Toro finished 3rd (at +2:57, finishing 19 seconds behind Vingegaard). Here, Jonas Vingegaard outclimbed Isaac del Toro by 19 seconds on the mountain stageawp13-11-2026
- your clinging to the past. Jonas was dropped by del toro many times last year and jonas never managed a climbing numers del toro did in dauphine last year -entire year. Trend is also evident theres no discussion your living in the past, its beent he same with jonas for many years now and only developing, meanwhile del toro is rising and developing greatly. This is all obvious stuff and im not even a del toro fan. No point discussing numbers or this i suspect you dont watch much now but rather think its 2022 still cause this aint hard.miguel13-11-2026
- We can go through metrics if you like, Del Toro, who I do admire and support, is not on the same level as Jonas just yet. You will see that in early 2027 if they have any crossover races. I do hope they both race the Giro. You are correct though, Jonas is getting older and will not be able to hand on much longer. I see 2027 as a good year for him. Obviously behind Tadej though.awp13-11-2026
- What wins? Are you LA operating under a pseudonym?mij13-11-2026
- My point is this - Tadej, Remco, Seixas are all the outliers. Many riders don’t hit their peak until 28. It’s way too early to write him off. And the pogi slo guy that hates him - he’s also immature. Ayuso needs time.mij13-11-2026
- Then you need to use ur eyes or head if you have cause del toro already dropped jonas two times and beat him in tdf stages already this year.. Del toro climbed(dauphine) better numbers than jonas did all year too. So ur feelings and wishful thinking doesnt amtter del toro himself has already surpassed jonas infact just facts. Its also very evident for anyone objective that Jonas is declining alot, its just the truth and super obvious.miguel13-11-2026
- None of those victories stand, so there's that,wrsty13-11-2026
- No surprise there; it is British Sycling, yes, with an S
Rafionain-Glas12-11-2026 - I like Del Toro but he's not on the level of Jonas, by a large margin.awp12-11-2026
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