Van Aert amazes even Visma | Lease a Bike after stunning stage win: "Peloton suffered more than on Sunday"

"It doesn’t happen often that they can see me win at the finish, so that makes it extra special," Van Aert said afterward on the rollers, shortly after greeting his wife Sarah and sons Jerome and Georges. He wanted to win for them. "I really wanted to be in the breakaway, even though I struggled on the first climb of the day. When I had almost given up, I tried one more time... After that, we still had to go all out for at least fifty kilometers to create a gap."

With Quentin Pacher, Juri Hollmann, Marc Soler and Lecerf joining him, he had four perfect companions in the breakaway. These were men willing to ride hard, in a finale that suited Van Aert well. "The fact that it was so intense at the start worked to my advantage. The climbers in the group had less fresh legs because of it, which allowed me to win."

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We already knew that Van Aert is a versatile rider. Throughout his illustrious career, he has won classics, time trials, bunch sprints and mountain stages. The fact that he was the clear favorite for the stage win on Tuesday, in a breakaway with climbers like Marc Soler and Junior Lecerf, said it all. He lived up to that expectation, never finding himself in trouble, clearly riding with the legs that once won him a stage over Mont Ventoux in the Tour de France.

After Tuesday, his career win tally stands at 49. Could win number fifty come in this Vuelta? "It’s great in a race like this, where you have a diverse profile. In stages like these, I always have a chance, and this win is really cool." Van Aert smiles but frowns when asked about the mountain jersey. After his stage win, he is tied at 22 points with Adam Yates, the UAE-Team Emirates rider who can currently call himself king of the mountains. "Really? That’s just a coincidence. If you’re in a breakaway of five, you naturally take quite a few points away from the others. My eyes are on the points jersey," he says, almost endearingly cautious.

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Visma | Lease a Bike was probably less surprised by Van Aert’s performance. "Wout already said during the rest day that he wanted to go for it today," laughs teammate Robert Gesink on Eurosport. "I have great respect for how he ultimately did it, because it was a super tough day right from the start. The fact that he came to the front with such a group was already incredibly strong. The entire peloton suffered more than on Sunday, so I’m really glad Wout pulled it off."

The Belgian already has three stage wins in the bag, but where will it end? "He’s enjoying this Vuelta, together with his family. This race suits him well, even though it’s new for him. As a team, we try to support him wherever possible. He always has big goals, so we make a plan every day to win stages with him. He’s far ahead in the points classification, so he’ll have marked a few more stages on his calendar."