02/06/2023

"In the Tour I already achieved things that people thought impossible" - Wout van Aerts sets off for Tour de France without pressure

Wout van Aert is currently preparing for the Tour de France but has his eyes on the World Championships in Glasgow the following weeks. With that in mind, the Belgian is set to ride the race differently and also enter it with different form.

"That's when I'm at my best. In the Tour I already achieved things that people thought impossible. Last year was the first time I came out of the Tour badly. In the last week I've gone over it a bit," van Aert tells in an interview with ProCycling. "That had not so much to do with the green, but rather with bringing in the yellow. Now I hope to finish in Paris with good legs to go to the World Championships with that form."

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In 2022 van Aert not only rode a brilliant race individually, capturing multiple stages - including a solo attack in the yellow jersey - the green jersey and playing a key role for Jonas Vingegaard's victory. It was a one-of-a-kind performance, but one that left him physically broken the weeks following. With the road race worlds only two weeks after the final stage of the Tour this year, he looks to save himself a bit more.

This will certainly mean he will not target the points classification as has been told in previous weeks, instead focusing on support for Vingegaard and target specific stages. "The choice for the Tour is easy because of the combination with the classics. The Tour remains the biggest and most important stage race on the planet, with all due respect to the Giro and the Vuelta. Advertising, commercial and sporting continues to excel in the Tour of priceless value."

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"But I'm always looking for new things. So someday the time will be right and I will start in the Giro or Vuelta," he admits. Filippo Ganna, Stefan Küng and Mads Pedersen all started the Giro right after the cobbled classics, all have shown great legs before abandoning proving that there is enough space to rest and prepare ahead of the Corsa Rosa.

However for the time being his sights are set on the summer where he will look for a maiden world title on the road. "The best preparation is to go full steam ahead in France. There is plenty of recovery time in between. Supercompensation follows automatically," he concludes.