“There is no need to panic” - Wout van Aert backed by former Tour de France stage winner after bruising Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes comeback

Wout van Aert’s muted return at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes has been given a calm verdict by former Tour de France stage winner and RTBF consultant Cyril Saugrain, who believes the Belgian’s difficult opening day should not trigger alarm.

Van Aert returned to racing on stage 1, around two months after his long-awaited Paris-Roubaix victory, but the Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider was not immediately back to his best. He started the race with visible damage from a training crash, with his right arm wrapped and his right knee marked, before being distanced on the steep Cote de Quaix-en-Chartreuse during a demanding opener from Vizille to Saint-Ismier.

The Belgian admitted afterwards that he had hoped for better legs. “I didn’t have a great feeling,” Van Aert told HLN after the stage, explaining that he had tried to help position Matteo Jorgenson before deciding not to force the issue.

For Saugrain, though, the context matters. Van Aert is rebuilding towards the Tour de France, not arriving at the renamed Dauphine as a finished product.

“There is no need to panic,” Saugrain said on RTBF after stage 1. “He suspected that the stage was going to be more complicated. After a crash, you are not always very good. This is about getting back into condition.”

That view fits with Van Aert’s own reaction after the stage. The Belgian had joked that the damage from his crash was hard to hide, revealing that he had fallen on his time trial bike earlier in the week after a small lapse of concentration. He said the injuries were not serious enough to stop him starting, but the opening stage was still a sharp reintroduction to racing.

With more than 3,000 metres of climbing and five categorised ascents, stage 1 was always likely to ask uncomfortable questions of a rider returning from a long break. Van Aert’s own answer was that he had felt the effort mainly in his legs, not because of any major crash-related concern.

Saugrain’s reassurance comes with one clear condition. The former professional rider does not believe the opening stage is the right day on which to judge Van Aert’s form, but he does expect clearer signs when the race reaches terrain better suited to him. “We will need to ask questions if he is not good on stages that suit him, but I am not worried,” Saugrain concluded.

For Van Aert, the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes is part of the road back towards July rather than a race that needs instant answers. Visma are targeting the team time trial this week, while Van Aert’s own chances should come on terrain better suited to him than the climbing-heavy opener.

Stages 4 and 5 look more realistic, either from a sprint or a breakaway. After finally winning Paris-Roubaix, his season has moved from relief to reset: recover, rebuild and arrive sharper for the Tour de France.

Stage 1 was bruising rather than brilliant. Saugrain’s verdict was clear enough: judge Van Aert when the race suits him, not on a comeback day that was always likely to hurt.