"Those first few meters uphill immediately grabbed him by the throat" - Wout van Aert's team manager reacts to team time trial woes

Wout van Aert looked in trouble from the very first meters uphill during Tuesday's team trial at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. That's according to his team manager Maarten Wynants who noted that they knew immediately that the Belgian wasn't at his best.

Van Aert suffered a crash last Monday while training just days before the beginning of the stage race, and while he calmed speculation that he was feeling the effects, his performances at the race have fallen short of expectations.

The Paris Roubaix winner dropped early on the first two stages, and was the first Visma | Lease a Bike rider to peel off during the team time trial. With the Flandrian's time trial credentials making him one of the strongest in the team on paper, it seemed van Aert was struggling in practice as his team opened up on his level.

Team manager Wynants told Het Laatste Nieuws. "He hadn't said anything yet, but those first few meters uphill immediately grabbed him by the throat. He visibly had to 'work'.

"We deliberately set a very high pace there because we certainly didn't want to lose any time. A good Wout helps make the difference there. With long turns. Now they stayed short. Then you know enough, right?"

With the team time trial one of cycling's few objective indications of the current level of riders, Wynants indicated that the length of a rider's turn tells you all you need to know. He added that van Aert usually appears the strongest in that test, but Tuesday's affairs was not the case.

He added: "At the front and immediately dropped again. The strongest riders take turns at the front for twenty, thirty seconds, which distinguishes them from the slightly weaker riders.

"The pace doesn't necessarily have to be pushed all the time. But they do keep the speed consistently high. Under normal circumstances, Wout always belongs to that first category. It wasn't as he and we had hoped. We had to deal with that."

Van Aert's disappointment certainly didn't hinder Visma | Lease a Bike as they surged to win the stage. Bruno Amirail gave the final pull to launch Matteo Jorgenson and Jorgen Nordhagen at the bottom of the climb to the finish inside the final kilometer as the duo raced up the short ascent to claim victory over Netcompany Ineos in second.

The result puts Jorgenson in prime general classification position for the upcoming days. However, the American rider underlined that van Aert's crash is affecting his performances.

Jorgenson said: "It's Wout, you know. We always expect a lot from him, but he is human too. He told us about that crash... Rest assured that it is affecting him.

"And that the reason for his weaker performances at the moment must be sought partly there. I am not surprised."