"That was a mistake" Wout van Aert takes the blame after missed opportunity for Olav Kooij and Visma | Lease a Bike

With less than one kilometer to go, one of Kaden Groves’ teammates launched an attack. Van Aert moved up to close the gap, but suddenly found himself with a small lead. He looked back, saw the hesitation behind, and decided to push on. But he couldn't hold it to the line. “That was a mistake. I thought we were closer to the finish and I should have waited. I could have saved something and helped Olav get into position at the very end.”

From that moment on, Van Aert couldn’t offer much help to his sprinter, who was also boxed in after a move by Matteo Moschetti (Q36.5). “I saw he was completely stuck and couldn’t launch his sprint. That’s unfortunate because he didn’t really get to compete. Although credit where it’s due, Kaden Groves is a strong guy,” Van Aert told CyclingProNet.

He repeated his thoughts to Sporza in Dutch. “I had the chance to go with Olav on my wheel. It wasn’t until I reached that Alpecin Deceuninck rider that I noticed a gap had opened. I didn’t have the legs to go all the way to the finish. It wasn’t the best call. I should’ve waited a bit longer. I kept trying, but I saw the speed was still high behind me. In the final 200 meters I also didn’t want to be the guy getting in the way.”

Visma | Lease a Bike may not have taken the stage win, but they came through unscathed as one of the few teams to avoid the major crash that shook up the race with 70 kilometers to go. “It had been raining for a while and suddenly the roads were super slick in that descent. Crashes like that can always happen, but I think the organizers made the right call by neutralizing the race and allowing everyone to come back,” Van Aert told VTM.

“I was near the front and didn’t go down myself, but I heard from the others it was a pretty heavy crash. No one was really to blame, and the organization reacted well by temporarily neutralizing the race. In these kinds of situations, clear communication is key. At a certain point, we were all on the same page: no times should be counted for the GC. I’m glad they actually followed through with that decision.”

On Friday, the first mountain stage of this Giro is on the menu, and the Dutch squad will fully back team leader Simon Yates