The 2025 Tour de France route was presented today. It includes some familiar mountains for us, as we’ll be returning to the Hautacam, Mont Ventoux, and Col de la Loze. Memories! 🤩 What’s your favorite memory?
"The Tour looks good for him indeed" - Might we see Wout van Aert return to the Tour de France in 2025?
CyclingTuesday, 29 October 2024 at 17:00
Team Visma | Lease a Bike were keeping a close eye on the Tour de France presentation this morning and were represented by head DS Grischa Niermann who should be in the car next summer behind the 'bees'. One question posed to him was the possible presence of Wout van Aert and this is what he had to say.
“We haven’t made a decision about his program yet. There are definitely nice stages for Wout, but we are in discussions about his wishes," Niermann shared with Sporza. "This year he wanted to ride the Giro and that didn’t work out. Does he want that next year? We are in talks and we are planning. But the Tour looks good for him indeed".
On the argument of van Aert's presence in the Tour is the unusually explosive first week of the race. Whilst in recent years the race turned to a more climber-oriented route where he would mostly just have opportunities in the bunch sprints and otherwise would be a domestique, this time around the situation is different. Like the 2021 route, the classics riders have several opportunities in the first week. It's the first time in three years that the start of the race isn't immediately guided towards the GC riders and the truth is that the first actual mountain stage should be the 10th stage - whilst the first day in the mountains, not hilly terrain, will be on the 12th day.
The arrivals in Boulogne-sur-Mer, Rouen, Viré and Mur-de-Bretagne - alongside the time-trial on stage 5 - are all opportunities for the Belgian and in the first seven stages, he has a good chance of winning five whilst being able to contest bonifications in the other two as well. The yellow jersey could be a prime goal for the versatile rider (besides the stage win opportunities which come aplenty) if he is to make a return to the Tour.
In 2024 he planned on doing the Giro-Vuelta double for the first time in his career, but his Giro debut had to be scratched from the plan after he was severely injured at Dwars door Vlaanderen. Despite the great form, confidence boost and several stage wins he obtained at the Vuelta, in the final week he crashed out and had to end his season there - alongside losing the jerseys he was carrying at the time. Whether he will make another bid for the Giro or not will largely depend on it's route, which will be presented in two weeks time.
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