Wout van Aert shrugs off Armstrong and Hincapie criticism: "I'm not going to argue with him"

Wout van Aert has had an incredibly busy Tour de France thus far, in the rest day he has discussed some of the ups, downs and commentary he's been throughout during these two weeks of hard work.

"I always like to have my family around, but now it's important for them to be at home. But in that respect it is my most difficult Tour so far, to always be able to keep my head. I haven't had any visitors in this race yet, which I'm not used to," van Aert says in an interview with Het Laatste Nieuws. Last year everything clicked for Jumbo-Visma, van Aert himself having won three stages and the green jersey, besides helping Vingegaard into the overall win.

This year green was not in his sight, he may leave the race to be present in his second child's birth, and is also taking the Tour in a more conservative form in order to be fresh in time for the Glasgow World Championships which come two weeks after the Tour. He has chased stage wins on several days coming close in a few but without the win, but has also been a very valuable domestique for Jonas Vingegaard in several mountainous days.

Reaching the end of the second week, van Aert admits "mixed feelings. I am somewhat satisfied with the high level that I have achieved. I felt like I was at the appointment. On the other hand, I had hoped for better results. I think I was just that little bit better last year. As a result, it went just that fraction better for me. At the same time, we all set heaps of records here. That's not just Jonas and Pogacar, we also have to ride crazy fast to help those men. I'm close to my best legs, that's for sure, but it's also sometimes in a small corner. The fact that Jasper Philipsen cuts me off has nothing to do with my form, of course."

Former pros George Hincapie and Lance Armstrong were judgmental of the team tactics in which Jumbo-Visma are launching riders into breakaways without obtaining a win, van Aert, admits not to be too worried about that: "I'm not going to argue with him. It is very nice to receive such a compliment from someone who has been through it all. But I keep my feet on the ground and I also feel that there are many riders in the peloton who can hurt me."

"So I'll leave it up to you whether that's really true. I certainly understand that it may look strange or that people from the past think that everyone in the team should only ride for the yellow jersey. But I'm super happy that we dare to look at it differently," he concludes.