100th place in a Tour de France time trial, that takes some getting used to even for Wout van Aert, despite clear explanations: '

Visma | Lease a Bike didn’t have a great day in the time trial around Caen. Jonas Vingegaard surprisingly lost a lot of time to Tadej Pogacar, and backup Matteo Jorgenson didn’t do much better. Edoardo Affini, as an early starter, seemed to have a shot at a surprise victory, especially when the wind picked up later on. However, the Italian was eventually dethroned by winner Remco Evenepoel and Pogacar.

Normally, Van Aert would have been starring in a lead role in a time trial like this, but the 30-year-old Belgian just didn’t have the legs, as had been the case in the previous four days. His deficit to the yellow jersey had already grown to nearly five minutes over those days, so after what was actually a pretty decent eleventh place on Tuesday, he was unsure about his approach for the time trial. “In the past, I would always go all-out in a time trial, but I have to be realistic now,” he said.

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Anyone hoping for a miracle was left disappointed. Van Aert did not go all-out on Wednesday and ultimately finished in 100th place, 4 minutes and 32 seconds behind Evenepoel. That was quite an adjustment even for Van Aert, who is usually such a strong time trialist. “I would have given everything here if I still had a chance at the yellow jersey, but that’s no longer the case,” he explained his anonymous performance. “I was happy that I felt better on Tuesday, but it’s also clear that I still need to improve.”

And so Van Aert saved his energy for the days ahead. Stage 6 offers a punchy finish, and Friday ends atop the Mûr de Bretagne, which also suits him well. “In such a specific discipline as the time trial, you need to be well-prepared, and I haven’t trained for it recently. I prefer to focus on the coming days; there was no need to ride this time trial at full speed.”

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Van Aert called it “a quiet day.” “To be ready for what’s coming. I don’t think I would have had a chance against the fastest guys on a course like this with my current preparation. Remco was the big favorite on such a fast and flat time trial.”