Wout van Aert criticizes Tour de France documentary: "The series is focused on commotion. Jonas and I are best friends"
Cycling
Wout van Aert has been having extremely busy days recently, having travelled from a high-altitude camp in the Alps towards the start of the Tour de Suisse after the main Jumbo-Visma camp, and also the release of the Tour de France's Netflix series 'Unchained'. However, upon viewing it, the Belgian had criticism over the stories that were passed on.
The documentary series which followed seven teams came out to the public last Thursday, and although it saw mixed reactions it had a great amount of attention. “I was finally able to watch," van Aert shares in an interview with Sporza. "Because strange, but true, although I play one of the leading roles, I did not know what would be seen. It is quite disturbing that stories were written in the documentary that were not there. For me, the series is focused on commotion. Jonas and I are best friends."
Most noticeably in the series was the episode on stage 5, in which Jonas Vingegaard suffered a mechanical problem and the team was for brief moments in total chaos in a clip which became viral with several riders trying to assist him. Jumbo-Visma however went on to have an unimaginably successful race winning 6 stages with three different riders, as well as dominating the green jersey and succeeding in conquering the yellow jersey.
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"The focus is on moments in which it is difficult to make the right choice," van Aert points out however, "but there are also so many moments in which we have strengthened each other and worked together. It is a pity that it has been removed.”
As for this year, his ambitions will be different. “The points classification sometimes gets in the way of stage victories. I don't want to have to focus on the intermediate sprints from the start of the next Tour," he confirms, having backed up what had been said over the past few weeks. He is looking to have his best form at the Glasgow World Championships and hence doesn't want to go above his limits throughout the Tour.
This was the case last year where he has succeeded, but after the race had ended he had problems with recovering from the amount of efforts. "I am someone who likes to believe that there are almost no limits, but when it comes to last year's Tour, the ambition should not be to do even better. That Tour was exceptional, I realize that and the team realizes that.”
Lastly van Aert, who is currently riding the Tour de Suisse, confirms that the focus in preventing a Covid-19 outbreak as was the case at the Giro d'Italia is real and the team is actively playing it on the safe side. “The fear is still there. The Giro was a wake-up call. Corona is still there. I am especially shocked that a number of teammates have been seriously ill, although it was about light infections."
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
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- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling for
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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🇨🇭 #tourdesuisse2023 A new week has started, but Tour de Suisse continues.😀
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