"Joshua Tarling is the top contender" - Wout van Aert starts Giro d'Italia TT without any expectations

After finally taking the first win of his season last weekend on stage 9 of the 2025 Giro d'Italia, Wout van Aert is full of confidence at the moment. Ahead of the stage 10 individual time trial though, Team Visma | Lease a Bike insists that there are no expectations for the Belgian against the clock.

“We don’t really have any specific expectations for this time trial,” Team Visma | Lease a Bike's sports director Marc Reef explained to Het Laatste Nieuws from the startline of stage 10. “We’re simply aiming to ride the best time trial possible. Wout will give it his all, and then we’ll see where that gets us.”

These comments from Reef echo a similar vibe as those given by Van Aert himself ahead of the time trial, with the 30-year-old insisting he's not among the standout contenders to take another stage win this afternoon. “It’s very straightforward and flat,” Van Aert analyses in his own pre-stage interview. “Since my last time trial didn’t go the way I’d hoped, I’m definitely not starting as the favourite. Joshua Tarling is the top contender again, and this course should suit him even better than the one he won in Albania.”