“I quickly realized that it would only work on that climb” - Is the real Wout van Aert emerging after fighting mood on Giro stage 8?

It’s been a frustrating Giro d’Italia debut so far for Wout van Aert. While Mads Pedersen stole the headlines in week one with three stage victories, Van Aert has been left chasing shadows, and missing out.

But on stage 8, the Belgian finally showed some attacking intent. Not once, not twice, but three times Van Aert tried to ride clear of the peloton and bridge across to Mads Pedersen, who was up the road at the time. Yet each move was shut down, and after his third attempt, Van Aert dropped back to the team car, and that was that for the day. No Giro stage win just yet.

Still, it was a sign of life from the Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader, who hadn’t featured prominently since his second place on stage 1. After the stage, Van Aert maintained a light mood despite the disappointment.

“Do the interview quickly, because it will be dark soon,” he joked with Nieuwsblad.

“It took a long time for the breakaway to come together. I tried, but it wasn’t enough to really get ahead. From the moment we got to mountainous terrain, I had already decided in my head that I wouldn’t try anymore there.”

Van Aert acknowledged the dynamics of the day made it hard to pull off a move.

“You just knew that a lot of people wanted to get into that breakaway. It was also ungrateful to get to the front early on these roads with a lot of headwind. I quickly realized that it would only work on that climb. So my attempts were a bit against my better judgment.”

In a peloton packed with ambition, Van Aert openly admitted that his repeated chases were always going to be a gamble.

“There are 200 men riding here, 150 of whom want to get into that breakaway, so it makes sense that they jump on each other's wheel if someone wants to escape. That's what I would do. I just didn't succeed. In the end, it must have been the men with the best legs who got ahead.”

It wasn’t a breakthrough day for Van Aert, but his repeated attacks were perhaps the clearest indication yet that he’s beginning to feel stronger. As the Giro moves into its second week, fans and rivals alike will be watching closely to see if his legs, and luck, start to turn soon.