Tratnik stuns with podium finish, but Van Aert steals the show: "Tried to play it by surprise"

Van Aert started the day in fourth place in the general classification, but he was the one who made a move forty kilometers from the finish. "Wout's attack was beautiful, wasn't it? Why should we wait, we made the race attractive. If you don't try, you'll never know. We had two cards and we played both. Wout was very strong and almost pulled it off, and for me, it was easier, I could just wait in the peloton. The other teams had to work to bring Wout back."

After they caught up with Van Aert three kilometers from the finish, Visma | Lease a Bike played the Tratnik card. He was third in the standings before the stage, and successfully defended that position. "The first time up Malhao was already tough and I saw there was a headwind. I didn't want to go too deep at the bottom of the climb and I have to thank Sepp because he sacrificed himself for me. He stayed with me the entire time, closed the gap when the first attack happened, and even tried himself. That was just difficult with the wind, you had to wait for the final 300 meters. There I didn't really have the legs, but I'm happy with the result."

Through the official channels of the team, Van Aert also commented on his day: "I had hoped to get closer to the stage win during my attack. At one point things were looking good, but I also felt that Healy was a bit better. Once the group had us in sight, I let myself drop back in hopes that I could do something for my teammates, but unfortunately, that was no longer possible. In general, we can be very satisfied with our race this week. We have won a stage and are on the podium for the overall rankings. That gives us confidence for the coming weeks."

Speaking to HLN, Van Aert went into more detail about his attack. "We tried to play it by surprise. That was the plan. We wanted to put pressure on the other teams and it worked out well. I was able to show what I can do this week during two tough stages. The course was a bit too difficult for me to compete for the prizes, but it was beautiful."