Wout van Aert expresses ambitions for Tour de France and makes concessions in favor of bigger Visma goals

Van Aert has already completed a heavy spring campaign that included the cobbled classics and the Giro d’Italia, but physically and mentally, he still seems fresh. That wasn’t quite the case for Simon Yates — sitting next to Van Aert — who appeared more drained after his Giro effort.

Still, Van Aert’s run-up to the Tour was far from perfect. He had to skip the Belgian National Championships due to illness. “I feel healthy again. It was just a small setback — but at a really bad time,” Van Aert explained. “I got sick the night before nationals and couldn’t eat on Sunday. It turned out to be a stomach bug, and by Monday, I was already feeling better.”

Despite the illness, Van Aert doesn’t believe it will hinder his Tour performance. “I don’t feel quite as strong as I did last week, but I’ve recovered, and I hope it won’t affect me during the race,” he said. The 29-year-old will have personal ambitions primarily in the first week and a half. “It’s going to be hard to do anything solo. The GC with Jonas is the top priority, but the stages that suit me are also important for Jonas — to keep him at the front.”

That team-first focus means Van Aert won’t be chasing the green jersey this year. “I’m not thinking about it. It’s hard to score points in the flat sprints, and combining it with our GC goal is difficult. Going for green takes a lot of work every day. I’ve won it before, and I enjoyed that, but now I’m focused on stage wins.”

Van Aert knows he’ll have to make sacrifices — even in the sprints and time trials — for the sake of the team’s overall strategy. “It depends. I’ll have better chances in the more punchy stages. Some days will feel like classics, with tricky finales in that first week. That suits me well. It’s a different Tour than in past years, with fewer mountain stages early on, but my mindset is the same. We always come to the Tour with the same main goal.”

Last year’s Vuelta showed that Van Aert can still shine in his second Grand Tour of the season — something he’s hoping to replicate after riding the Giro this spring. “I asked to do two Grand Tours, so hopefully it works out like the Vuelta last year. But you can’t order good legs on demand. We’ll have to see.”