“I was trapped between Arnaud Démare and the fences” - Wout van Aert has another near miss on stage 12 of 2024 Tour de France

Wout van Aert continues to be made to wait for any personal success at the 2024 Tour de France. On stage 12, the Belgian sprinted strongly again, but was forced to settle for second behind Biniam Girmay.

"I'm disappointed. I was trapped between Arnaud Démare and the fences,” reflected the Team Visma | Lease a Bike sprinter in his post-stage interview afterwards. It's not the first time the Belgian has been forced out in this Tour de France either. On stage 6, van Aert was blocked in the sprint by Jasper Philipsen, with the Belgian subsequently relegated from 2nd on the day.

“I should look back and see what happened. But anyway, I had to relaunch myself and still came close to winning. So yeah, if I hadn’t had to keep my legs still, I would have had a good chance,” van Aert continues, opting to remain optimistic despite yet another close call at this Grand Tour. It’s important to remember the good things from today. Of course I’m happy that I felt good again. I hope it stays that way and that I can forget yesterday as soon as possible.”

The 'yesterday' van Aert is referring to is stage 11 where despite his Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader, Jonas Vingegaard taking an incredible stage win, van Aert himself suffered another blow with a late crash that could have been much worse if not for his bike handling skills.

2024 Tour de France stage 12 results: