Wout van Aert: "My legs are getting better every day and fortunately I can do more than just sprint"

Wout van Aert has been having a rollercoaster Tour de France and it shows no sign of stopping. Two days ago the Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider crashed and suffered bad injuries which had him contemplating withdrawing from the race, but yesterday he almost sprinted for the win in Villeneuve-sur-Lot and is aiming for more. 

“That crash was ugly, but apart from that crash I was doing really well. I was already good in the previous sprint," van Aert told Het Laatste Nieuws. "On Wednesday I also felt very good until that crash. On Monday during the rest day I really had my mind set on this stage. Apparently rightly so. It's just a shame about that second place". The Belgian's injuries were not too bad and he seemed to recover fast. During yesterday's stage he decided he would go for the sprint.

“Anyone who knows me knows that I usually don't talk nonsense. Before the start I really had my doubts, but I had set myself the goal that if I felt good, I wanted to pick up the thread again as soon as possible. When the stage was going quite well and they were riding hard to control the breakaway, I decided to try it fifty kilometres from the finish because I know that after such a stage the sprint suits me well," he explains.

And he could've possibly won it, but once again was blocked mid-sprint. Some days ago Jasper Philipsen was relegated for that move on van Aert and yesterday Arnaud Démare suffered the same faith. He had talked about doubts in continuing the Tour but that has been put behind by now it seems.

“A good reasoning, but I decided something today," before being quite clear on his ambitions after what was a very difficult set of months where he had to give up on several of his goals due to injuries. "I won’t let any more chances slip this year! I’ve already missed enough due to circumstances. My legs are getting better every day and fortunately I can do more than just sprint.”