Wout van Aert: "I showed in previous editions of the Tour that I am able to combine a lot of tasks"

Wout van Aert is heading to the Tour de France but with some more freedom this year, not only having more freedom to pursue stage wins but also more freedom to go for the green jersey which he has proclaimed to be a goal.

“I don’t see problems combining these two goals," he said ahead of the Tour in a pre-race conference. "It would be a dream come true if the team can fulfil its goals. I showed in previous editions of the Tour that I am able to combine a lot of tasks. Going for the yellow jersey is the priority for our team, which we’ve been hunting for a few years. I am looking forward to contributing to that, but the green jersey will take energy as well," he admits.

Van Aert will this year target the green jersey. With his sprinting abilities, alongside his time-trialing and climbing expertise, he's become the main contender to win it, as the pure sprinters will depend on the bunch sprints to get ahead. "This year I will have more freedom to catch as many points as possible. I can help the team in going for stage wins. In stages trying to take intermediate sprints and then helping my teammates will not be an issue for me".

He's had an issue in Tignes where he suffered from an inflammation in the knee, having missed the national championships because of it. “I missed one hard training block, and I missed some training, but I had to listen to my body. I don’t feel any pain, but we have to be careful every day. It’s not ideal. I just hope on Friday on a short effort like this that all the training from the previous months has not completely disappeared. I go in with full motivation, mentally it’s not the easiest way to approach the Tour, but I want to give 100 percent like I always do.”

He described that the injury, albeit not serious, is still a reason for concern for the Belgian. “Everything related to pedaling is not really good. Standing on the pedals is less tension because the angle of my knee is less. The most friction I have is with the deep squat, on top of the kneecap when I had the impact on the handlebar on the wrong place. It’s more painful on the TT bike.

"On the other hand the most pain I will have is with the really long rides. The longer I have to pedal the more stress I have on the knee, so the short TT is not a disadvantage for me," he concluded.