Van Aert takes crucial points with lead-out, but Brennan has a minor point of criticism

Visma | Lease a Bike is in full swing at the Vuelta a España. The Dutch team has a stage gold mine in Matthew Brennan, as evidenced by the three wins for the Brit. In Stage 11, lead-out men Wout van Aert and Christophe Laporte switched roles, giving the Belgian a chance to finish fifth. This is important, given his ambitions for the green jersey.

Unlike in previous races, Van Aert was the last rider in front of team leader Brennan. Laporte led the two into the final kilometer, after which the green jersey wearer was the first to enter the turn. “Today we wanted to try to go through the turn in first and second place,” he told Sporza. “That U-turn was a crucial point, and it worked perfectly. Christophe timed his effort perfectly.”

Things almost went wrong for Visma | Lease a Bike, though. Van Aert was the first to enter the final turn, 400 meters from the finish line. He misjudged it slightly, causing him to veer wide. “I didn’t want to make the mistake of taking the turn too aggressively, and maybe I was a little too cautious,” he said. “But in the end, I was able to set Matthew up perfectly.”

Van Aert kept pushing hard after the turn, after which Brennan easily finished it off. But behind them, his lead-out man kept pedaling hard, allowing him to cross the finish line in fifth place. That brings him to 174 points in the race for the green jersey. “In a sprint like that with a turn, as the lead-out rider you have a good chance of finishing close. Christophe and I are similar types, and Matthew is very flexible. So it was nice to switch roles today.”

Van Aert’s lead-out also earned him praise from winner Brennan, who did have one small criticism. “I’d give him a nine out of ten, because he went a little too far into the turn,” the Brit laughs. He then turns serious and expresses his immense gratitude for all the support. “The fact that you have the two best riders in the world to do the lead-out is a great privilege.”

Brennan isn't going for the green jersey, while Van Aert has made that his goal. The finish there was perfect for that. “His style is to go hard for a long time. Because of that late turn, it was the perfect situation for us with me on his wheel. And he was able to pick up some green bonus points. With the stage win as well, we were able to check two boxes off our list.”

Those green bonus points came in handy, but along the way, Van Aert also surprisingly focused on the mountain points. On the Alto del Morrion de Totana, the Belgian took the full haul. He now has 19 points, 12 points behind polka-dot jersey wearer Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious). Two years ago, Van Aert also went for the double haul. Will he do it again?