José de Cauwer hopes for Wout van Aert to have freedom at Tour de France: "If it is again to wait for Vingegaard in the gravel stage, for example, then I think it is a shame"
Cycling
José de Cauwer is one of the most vocal voices in Belgian cycling and many take his opinion into great consideration. Naturally, he is a big defender of Wout van Aert and hopes the Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider isn't held by the team's ambitions at the Tour de France.
"Wout will be fine. He had a very bad crash, but that was a long time ago. His team even thought about sending him to the Giro, but they wisely decided against it," de Cauwer argues in words to Sporza. "Van Aert has had time to reset and be ready for the Tour. I hope for Wout and for Belgium that he can do his own thing. That he can dig deep where he wants, to possibly win stages and pursue his own goals. If it is again to wait for Vingegaard in the gravel stage, for example, then I think it is a shame."
That has happened in the past and van Aert is expected to have a domestique role for Vingegaard throughout the race. The Belgian was not initially expected to race the Tour and is still on the comeback from severe injuries suffered in the spring. He may have the chance to fight for stage wins but it will largely depend on his and Vingegaard's form throughout the three weeks - alongside the team's ambitions. But naturally, he will be racing with an eye on the Olympic Games, as was the case with the World Championships last year.
"But I mainly think that he will use this Tour towards the Olympic Games. The fact that Van Aert is now riding the Tour with the Games in mind has everything to do with last year. Then Mathieu van der Poel completed the Tour incognito, but at the World Championships he lashed out a few weeks later," de Cauwer argues. "The competition may have learned from that."
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- Yeah man...PogiSloFans07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
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