Wout van Aert defends Jonas Vingegaard: "The criticism is unjustified"

Much has been made of the final few hundred metres of stage 2 of the 2023 Tour de France. According to one of the main protagonists, Wout van Aert, any criticism of his team leader Jonas Vingegaard is completely unjustified.

"I needed some time to process the disappointment. Of course we discussed what happened with the team. We always want to win and if we don't succeed, we look at what we could do better. It was not an easy situation in the final either," van Aert recapped pre-stage 3 to Sporza. Victor Lafay was the eventual winner of stage 2, with van Aert forced to settle for second with some criticising Vingegaard for a perceived lack of help in chasing down the Frenchman.

Van Aert though, disagrees with this assumption. "He made sure that I had the chance to go for the win," the Belgian declares. "If he cooperates with Pogacar after the Jaizkibel - and we were far behind - then I have no chance of winning. However, he could have put a lot of competitors behind for the standings there."

"If you see how it turned out in the end, Jonas could have done more in the end. But that is also afterwards. It is a course, not a PlayStation. The criticism of him is therefore unjustified," he continues. "This will not stick. The Tour is 3 weeks. There are still many opportunities, starting today."