"Isn't Van Aert way too good to get so worked up for a pale Dane" - Hans Vandeweghe

Wout van Aert is working his role in the Tour de France quite well so far, having proven a key figure in Jumbo-Visma's attack on stage 6. Whilst Tadej Pogacar was able to neutralize the strategic move, the Belgian keeps seeking the stage win which has been a goal throughout the first week.

“A story appeared in a newspaper that we as Belgians should rub our hands with such a rider. Sure, but you can also turn it around and wrap it as a question," Hans Vandeweghe wrote in a column for De Morgen. "Isn't Van Aert way too good to get so worked up for a pale Dane (Jonas Vingegaard, ed.) who only wins competitions because his watts per kilogram of body weight (and his VO2max and his cycling economy) are simply higher/more favorable than that of any other rider in the Tour?”

In the opening two days Jumbo-Visma put in quite a lot of resources for a sprint win with van Aert, on stage 2 particularly it came up just short due to a late attack from Victor Lafay. On a few stages now he's sprinted but came up short of a stage victory, whilst on the Pyrenees he attacked and played a role in the team's GC ambitions which is the priority.

“Van Aert has too much class to jump away from behind the red car of the race director at kilometer zero like the first baroudeur. Van Aert is too good for the Oscar for the Special Effects in this Tour, also known as that insane prize of the fighting spirit. Van Aert is not a master domestique, he is a master and they should not be servants, even if they are paid millions for it. What should he do then?"

Vandeweghe displays the nationalist feeling towards van Aert in this Tour, something which has gained some prominence within Belgian fans where there is a big debate on the role the 28-year old should have in the Tour. Officially he's chasing stage wins and helping Vingegaard with the fight for the yellow jersey, he is not chasing green and is conserving his energy in some stages in order to reach the World Championships afterwards in good form.

“Specialists in his team claim that he cannot win the Tour with this weight. Don't you dare contradict them. Anyone who claims the contrary has certainly never progressed beyond the introduction to the physiology of cycling. Yet it is a shame, throwing with power, proliferating with immense talent, what the classy Wout van Aert does to give color to his own Tour. It is hoped for him that Sarah (De Bie, his wife, ed.) will give birth sooner than calculated and he can go home. It will benefit his World Championships," he concluded.