Tiesj Benoot on Wout van Aert and his Vuelta crash: "He knows that he was the Wout van Aert of old again"

Tiesj Benoot and Wout van Aert are part of the same block at Team Visma | Lease a Bike but this year they have not been able to race much together. Both have been heavily affected by injuries; Benoot has talked about this teammate and their first words after van Aert's withdrawal from the Vuelta a España.

"I called him for quite a long time last week, yes. I deliberately left him alone for the first few days because I know that he will have a lot to process then," Benoot said in words to Het Nieuwsblad. "It was nice to hear him for a while. I think everyone knows Wout as someone who is mentally strong, but he also has bad moments. He is of course very upset. After his crash in Dwars Door Vlaanderen, he only felt in the Vuelta that he was really back at his best, close to the best version he can be. To then fall back is extra sour. On the other hand, it is important that he has reached his top level again. He knows that he was the Wout van Aert of old again".

It has been a brutal season for van Aert who sustained very heavy injuries in March that wrecked his classics campaign and planned Giro d'Italia debut; but the versatile rider managed to get his best form back and still used to to achieve some strong results such as the podium at the Olympic Games time-trial and three stage wins at the Vuelta. He was at his best form, also leading the points and KOM classifications, when he crashed once again and the threat of an infection in his knee forced him to take another set of weeks off the bike. His 2024 season, on the road, is over.

Benoot himself wasn't much luckier either... "I had covid at the beginning of January, broke my sacrum in the Algarve and in the E3 I broke two ribs and was completely open... This was not a lucky year for me, absolutely not. I certainly came out of it much better than some teammates, that's true," he admits however. "And considering the circumstances, I did perform well, I think. But I really think I could have ridden my best spring ever thanks to that late altitude training camp".

He still had a podium finish at Amstel Gold Race and a few other minor results throughout the season, where supporting others was the biggest task: "That is a very big difference of course. But to be completely honest, I don't think it's all bad luck. Despite all the bad luck, I think we are still in the top three in terms of number of victories this season. I feel we are still a top team. I rode in other teams, for example my second year at DSM, that was bad, haha! We won almost nothing there".