Wout van Aert will not touch his bike for a while ahead of World Championships in Montreal

Wout van Aert was widely seen as the top favourite for the final stage of the Vuelta a España, but the Belgian from Visma | Lease a Bike ultimately came up short in Granada. That did not take away from the race he delivered: Van Aert finished the Tour of Spain with two stage wins and the green jersey, meaning he can travel to Canada for the World Championships with a positive feeling.

Although Van Aert was unable to stay with the best riders in the final stage, he still enjoyed the occasion. “It was fantastic. A great three-week Grand Tour in Spain. And I have to say: a really beautiful finish with a lot of fans along the roadside. So yes, it was a wonderful day.”

When asked what his favourite day of the Vuelta was, Van Aert had to think for a moment. “That is a good question. I was not really prepared to choose one... Not because I won myself, but I would choose stage 13.”

"That's where Brennan and Iplayed it perfectly, and I handled things in the breakaway very smartly with our numerical advantage. Honestly, that was much harder than controlling the sprint stages, so that is definitely a memory that will stay with me.”

The interviewer then tried to tempt Van Aert by suggesting he is in “perfect form” heading towards the World Championships, but that was met with a smile from the Belgian. “Perfection does not exist. In two weeks’ time it is already here. I have good legs and big goals, so now we first have to try to recover from this Vuelta and then we will go all-in in Montreal,” he said on Eurosport.

According to Van Aert, he will stay away from his bike for the next few days. “I think so. Honestly, I was only thinking about what we are going to do tonight; tomorrow and the days after that, we will see.”