José de Cauwer: "I'm not saying that Vingegaard and Van Aert are 100%, but they are certainly fine"

Sunday, 30 June 2024 at 12:29

In 2023 at the Tour de France, Wout van Aert did not win a stage and that was much due to the disappointment on stage 2 where Victor Lafay attacked in the final kilometer and Wout van Aert was left sprinting to second place. Many, including José de Cauwer, criticized the lack of work from Jonas Vingegaard on that day but this time around he does not think there was lack of cohesion with Team Visma | Lease a Bike.

"Somewhere it feels like a missed opportunity, because you win the sprint behind two men who would not have had to stay ahead under normal circumstances," De Cauwer said in words to Sporza. "You can then go back to Bilbao or San Sebastian last year: should this or that one have given an extra kick? Or with an extra push three kilometres before the top of the last climb, with a Jorgenson who starts a bit earlier. But you don't know that. And at that moment you think that those men won't stay ahead. They surprise everyone with their strength".

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The Belgian commentator believes the victory of the two riders from DSM is very much due to their incredible performance in the stage finale and not the lack of quality work in the peloton. Lidl-Trek, EF Education-EasyPost and Team Visma | Lease a Bike worked hard to close almost two minutes of gap, but they came up just short of completing the chase. Only 5 seconds separated the dup and the peloton, where Wout van Aert sprinted to third. The Belgian wasn't disappointed however but instead happy with having shown good form, and Visma had a good day overall where Jonas Vingegaard was not tested.

"A good ride from Visma-Lease a Bike. With an attentive Vingegaard who rides at the front, while they have been holding off on whether he would join for so long," de Cauwer continues, putting confidence in the duo's current form. I'm not saying that Vingegaard and Van Aert are 100%, but they are certainly fine."