Bronze Van Aert had 'power' back in legs after long time and grabbed '17 watt advantage with closed wheels'

After a largely difficult season, the sun is starting to shine a bit again for Wout van Aert. The Belgian secured the bronze in the Olympic time trial on Saturday with a special set-up, two closed wheels. 'You can call this the bronze of the close wheels,' Van Aert said afterwards in conversation with Sporza.

The special experiment also proved decisive in the end. Indeed, Van Aert was only two seconds faster than Joshua Tarling, although the latter also lost time along the way for a flat tire. 'I am a few seconds faster than Tarling. You can attribute that to the full wheels, and consequently to my trainer Mathieu Heijboer," the rider thanked the time trial expert from his team Visma | Lease a Bike. 

On the road, on the wet and bumpy road surface, Van Aert did not experience any trouble riding with two closed wheels. 'One hundred percent I had confidence that it was the right choice. I always felt comfortable. That he chose two closed wheels was certainly not without reason and scientific data. 'According to the tests, it provides up to seventeen watts of advantage. That's significant, because all the little things like the helmet and clothing are one watt extra each time,' he explained.

On the road, Van Aert did not rely on intermediate times. 'Today I consciously chose not to get any intermediate times through. I did see it in my values that I had power for the first time in a long time. I could keep pushing. Towards the end I died quietly, but it was just enough for a medal,' concluded Van Aert, who is reaping the rewards of three weeks of suffering in France. 'The Tour did me good. That was a boost.'

A week from now, on Saturday, the road race will be on the program. At the previous Games in Tokyo, Van Aert already took the silver. Can he complete the collection of gold, bronze and silver? 'I certainly won't fail to chase that,' he replied with a smile. The smile then quickly gives way to the necessary emotion, as Van Aert experienced a difficult run-up. 'I really dreamed of taking a medal in the time trial. It's 'only' bronze, but there are few who can say that. I'm enormously proud of that.'

Meanwhile, Van Aert has accepted the impact of his violent fall in Dwars door Vlaanderen on his preparation for the Games. 'There have been many moments when I couldn't prepare the way I wanted. I was able to give it a place, but I would have liked to focus on this for two months. It had to fall right and it did,' Van Aert concluded.