"Sometimes they should just use their heads" - Wout van Aert criticises rivals after crash chaos at the Giro d'Italia

A late crash on stage 14 of the 2025 Giro d'Italia has thrown the Italian Grand Tour into chaos. One of the main benefactors of the drama though, was Team Visma | Lease a Bike. Although they couldn't quite capitalise with a stage win with either Wout van Aert or Olav Kooij, their GC hopeful Simon Yates has gained time on many of his biggest rivals.

According to Van Aert in a post-stage interview with Belgian media, the riders who were left behind following the crash simply have no one to blame but their selves. "This was a circuit with lots of corners, but I have to say: this was on the riders themselves. The GC teams are just too nervous," the 30-year-old Belgian blasted critically. "They create their own stress, and that’s why they crash. We need to be willing to say that."

Often when such a number of GC hopefuls are caught out behind a crash, the race neutralises slightly to allow them to get back in. This time around though, no such sportsmanship occurred, leaving some to criticise Team Visma | Lease a Bike. Van Aert insists though, his team were not wrong to carry on riding hard at the front of the peloton, something they had been doing pre-crash.

"Did we gain an advantage with Yates? Yes, but honestly, I would’ve preferred to win the stage with Olav and finish with a decent peloton. This isn’t the way you want to gain time. We had things well under control, but we burned through half our team because it was a constant fight for position," Van Aert explains. “We want to win in a sprint. The last thing we’re going to do is take risks. Some riders really should just use their heads."

“It was risky due to the wet roads and some newly paved sections, but to be honest, I found the circuit in Lecce way more dangerous, with those bottlenecks. There may have been safer options, but we also could have made it safer ourselves,” he concludes. “In a more closed race scenario, yes (on neutralisation ed.) — but the breakaway was still ahead and the stage win was on the line. They were never going to neutralise the race.”