“I tried to be in the breakaway in order to do something for Sepp Kuss in the finale" - Wout van Aert & Visma's plans don't come to fruition on stage 9 of La Vuelta 2024

Although three brutal summits highlighted the profile of stage 9, Wout van Aert was on the attack early this Sunday at the 2024 Vuelta a Espana. Although Green Jersey points were bagged, ultimately nothing much came of the Belgian's breakaway escapade.

Given the parcours of the day, any hopes for a stage win for Van Aert were slim and he admits as much in his post-stage interview, insisting his breakaway role was more as a potential satellite for any attacks that could come from his Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader Sepp Kuss later on in the day.

“I tried to be in the breakaway in order to do something for Sepp Kuss in the finale," Van Aert explains afterwards. "I thought why not try from the beginning and I ended up in a good group. But I was not strong enough to hang on as long as I wanted, so I couldn’t do much in the finale."

The breakaway did take the spoils in the end, with UAE Team Emirates' Adam Yates taking the stage win and moving right back into Red Jersey contention as a result. "I could see especially two really strong teammates with Yates. With Soler and Vine, you kind of knew what to expect," Van Aert assesses. "They did it really well as a team. Later on I could hear through the radio his gap was still super big, so it was a great move by him. A well-deserved victory. For sure [I’m looking forward to the rest day]. The last two days were quite hard on the mountains, so I’m ready for the rest day.”