"Yesterday was one of the toughest mountain stages I have ever ridden" - Wout van Aert targeting breakaway opportunities in Tour de France third week

For Wout van Aert, the 2024 Tour de France has been a race of close calls so far. Whilst perhaps still not quite at his best following his spring crash at Dwars door Vlaanderen, the Belgian has had five top-6 finishes on stages so far this Grand Tour, but a stage win remains illusive.

"I felt much better in the second week," the 29-year-old, Team Visma | Lease a Bike superstar assesses of his level in the team's press conference on the second rest day this Monday, notably growing in optimism. "Things went a lot smoother. I was good last week."

Whilst the third week profile would ordinarily be full of opportunities for van Aert, both from breakaway's and even in the sprints, can the Belgian again come good at the business end of the Tour de France in 2024? "Tomorrow it will still be flat, after that it will be super difficult. There are opportunities for the breakaway there. Maybe I can play my part there too," van Aert previews. "On Wednesday I expect a breakaway to take the win. It's quite tough. If you get into the breakaway, there's a good chance that a better climber will be with you. Many riders will focus on that. It will be a battle to be in the breakaway. I was side lined for two or three months without the adrenaline of racing. So I'm glad I can feel it again now."

Van Aert also feels like he is definitely getting better as he has more racing in his legs too. "The trainers can estimate the figures better. But in the stage to Pau, with echelons and nervousness, I felt that I could really still ride a sprint in the final," he explains. "I didn't have that feeling in stage eight, for example, which was similar."

At the top of the standings, van Aert's teammate, Jonas Vingegaard currently sits 2nd overall, sandwiched between Tadej Pogacar and van Aert's compatriot, Remco Evenepoel. On his fellow Belgian, van Aert admits he's been impressed. "I look at him with admiration. He does it super smart by choosing his own pace, which may not be obvious with his temperament. But even then he loses surprisingly little time," van Aert assesses. "Yesterday was one of the toughest mountain stages I have ever ridden in the Tour. Remco loses a considerable amount of time compared to Pogacar, but he does make up time compared to the riders behind him. I really take my hat off to him."