Van Aert obeys warning signs from Visma | Lease a Bike after poor legs: "I'm looking forward to what's next"

Stage 3 would have been a routine challenge for a fully fit Van Aert. While Mads Pedersen was chasing his second stage win and a return to the pink jersey, Van Aert dropped early on the final climb. “We had hoped Wout would be good, that he’d make it over the climb and be able to sprint, but that wasn’t the case,” teammate Bart Lemmen told Eurosport afterward.

The Dutchman quickly shifted focus to British GC contender Simon Yates, once Van Aert signaled earlier in the stage that he was struggling. “On the rollers before the final climb, he already let us know he didn’t have the legs he needed, and it became clear soon enough. From then on, our priority was getting safely to the finish and not losing time with Simon, and we managed that. That’s great, but of course we were hoping for more,” Lemmen admitted, with mixed emotions.

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Before the start, Van Aert had remained optimistic about his chances on Stage 3. “Fifty-fifty,” he said with a smile in the mixed zone with Sporza. “I’m not here just to give up. If I feel okay, I’ll go for it. Yesterday (in Saturday’s time trial, ed.) didn’t go the way I had hoped. So in that sense, it’s a bit of a wait-and-see. Tomorrow (Monday, ed.) is a rest day anyway, so I don’t want to miss any opportunities if I feel good today.”

But Visma | Lease a Bike sports director Marc Reef had already hinted at a more cautious approach. “We don’t want to force anything, because that could backfire. Everyone knows Wout has been ill, missed quite a few training sessions, and needs to build form during the race. If he goes too deep now for a few days, that could prevent him from finding his rhythm, and as a result, any chances of stage wins later on might disappear.”

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The Dutch team was already looking ahead to the later stages of the race, and so Van Aert followed the plan when he didn’t have the legs on Sunday. “I didn’t have the best legs, so when I couldn’t follow, I took it easy. I don’t want to push my body too hard right now, and hopefully I’ll improve from here,” he echoed the team’s messaging. “The first day was better than expected, so that was good. But after that, it’s been difficult to perform at my usual level.”

“It was a better first stage than I had hoped for. After that, things unfolded logically,” he told Belgian media. “We just need to be patient. I’m healthy again, and I think I’ll get better step by step by continuing to race.” And there’s a new role awaiting Van Aert on Tuesday after the rest day (“which will be a tough day, with a long transfer and not much actual rest”). “Then comes the first opportunity with Olav (Kooij), and I’m looking forward to that.”