"Last Sunday we got beaten, but we were also super strong as a team, we blew the race apart, we will use this strength also in the last week" Wout Van Aert said Visma | Lease a Bike will not give up on winning the Tour 🇧🇪 #TDF2024
Wout van Aert rues missed sprint opportunity: "It was a sprint at seventy kilometers per hour, after an easy day. That's not my strong point"
CyclingWednesday, 17 July 2024 at 02:30
Wout van Aert finished fifth in the 16th stage of the Tour de France 2024, finishing in Nîmes. The Visma - Lease a Bike Belgian was never really in the fight for victory during the final sprint, losing momentum in the chaotic last kilometer and not having the legs to match Jasper Philipsen.
"I didn't feel great," he told Sporza after the race. In the final kilometers, Van Aert was supported by his French teammate Christophe Laporte. "Initially, I was well positioned with Christophe. However, in the last kilometer there were some very treacherous roundaobouts. One kilometer from the finish there was a really tricky roundabout," explained Van Aert.
"There was a bit of a struggle with the elbows, which made us lose momentum and I also lost Christophe as my leadout. It's a shame. Then I had a clear path for the sprint, but I didn't have the legs to finish any closer," he added. The stage was marked by intense heat on the road to Nîmes, "I usually cope well with the heat, but today it wasn't the case. I didn't feel great," Van Aert confessed.
Despite not having his best day, Van Aert wasn't worried about his performance. "Does it raise doubts? Not really. Good legs can't disappear. I recovered well from the last few days, but maybe after the rest day I wasn't active enough. You also have to remember that it was a sprint at seventy kilometers per hour, after an easy day. That's not my strong point," concluded the 29-year-old cyclist.
Van Aert has his eyes on the Olympic Games which will take place in two and half weeks in Paris, but he still has a chance to shine in this Tour on stage 18 into Barcelonette. However, with three mountain stages left, he will remain an important piece of Team Visma | Lease a Bike's plan to continue to take the yellow jersey from Tadej Pogacar.
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- Wrong, CrashJames. Frankie a ringleader of the Motorola doping scheme along with Armstrong. Armstrong made his career. And Lemond--you are still clinging to his miracle of "iron injections"? Bless your heart.
MarkFour25-11-2024 - Wrong. Bassons himself said that leaving pro cycling was the best thing that ever happened to him. You don't belong in these comments, or anywhere near a bike.MarkFour25-11-2024
- Agree, it is incomplete to omit the doped peloton. Lance was just better at it, a bigger liar, and vindictively went after people to protect the secret. Look how many results had to be restated, where other riders were also stripped of their results, and the problems ex us postal riders faced because their doping programs were not as good as postal. Why we continue to spend any time on this a$$h0le is beyond me.Crashjames25-11-2024
- Frankie Andrew, Greg lemond,Crashjames25-11-2024
- Christophe Bassons is one of many names. If you don’t that story, you don’t belong in these comments.PhilRidesBikes25-11-2024
- Not all riders in the peloton were using drugs, or using them to the same degree. Plenty of books published from cyclists saying they didn’t all get access to the same stuff whether they wanted it or not. Christophe Basons is just one of many who were outcast for not joining the program. Many new young riders were sent home if they didn’t abide by Lances rules. Andy Hampsten is another clean rider who refused to dope.PhilRidesBikes25-11-2024
- Lance lied, cheated, & destroyed lives during his entire cycling career. He claimed to enter the sport as a clean athlete, but there is evidence was already well into using banned substances as a triathlete. Lance is still lying about his use of banned substances & blood transfusions during his return to competition with Astana team.PhilRidesBikes25-11-2024
- I still can't believe how her teammates treated her that day. Her teammate literally sideswiped her and took her out and then after the race, the teammate claimed that she saw something yellow fall but she kept riding because she was going for the stage win (but finished 8th in the sprint). What the actual heck...Pogboom25-11-2024
- Many other drugs cheats also had no empathy.awp25-11-2024
- See if you can name one person whose career Lance Armstrong destroyed. Just one.MarkFour25-11-2024