Wout van Aert draws almost entirely positive conclusions after Tour of Denmark — except for one thing

Wout van Aert can look back on a fantastic week in Denmark. The Belgian from Visma | Lease a Bike missed the Tour de France because of an infected elbow and therefore needed to build up racing kilometers at the Tour of Denmark ahead of the goals still to come. With three stage victories and the overall title, the conclusions were almost entirely positive — apart from one thing...

Van Aert laid the foundations for his overall victory during the opening three days. On the first day, he won from a select group; on day two, he prevailed after a photo finish in a bunch sprint; and on the third day, Van Aert produced his best performance of the race, attacking uphill from an elite group before riding solo to victory.

Those three stage wins gave Van Aert a 20-second advantage over Lukas Kubis of Unibet Rose Rockets. That proved sufficient during the final two, less demanding days, allowing the Belgian to cross the line on Sunday as the overall winner of the five-day stage race.

Van Aert and Visma | Lease a Bike had allowed the breakaway riders to contest the victory in Saturday’s fourth stage, but the team wanted to make one more attempt in Sunday’s flat finale. Van Aert was positioned near the front when the sprint opened up, but he simply never found the space to launch his effort.

After finishing 11th in the final stage, Van Aert spoke to VTM about how he had experienced the closing day. His competitive instincts initially came to the surface. “I was frustrated that I got boxed in. I wanted to ride for a result.”

That result never materialized, but it was the only negative point from an otherwise excellent week in Denmark. “Most of all, I’m happy that I made it to the finish safely,” he added, referring to the large crash in the peloton on the final corner of stage five.

The overall victory in Denmark, his second after previously winning the race in 2018, “does mean something,” a delighted Van Aert said. “I don’t often compete for the general classification, so I’m happy that I’ve been able to experience that again. The legs are good, so I can look ahead to the next races with confidence.”

Van Aert is expected to continue the second half of his 2026 season at the Vuelta a España, which begins in Monaco on August 22. At the Spanish Grand Tour, he will return to the race in which he suffered a knee injury in 2024, having already collected three stage victories and taken possession of two classification jerseys.

This year, the Vuelta will serve as Van Aert’s preparation for the World Championships in Canada.