Wout van Aert let the favorites drive away for more than 18 minutes: “I quickly felt that it was no longer possible”

“It was a tough day. We had a hard time getting the right break away with the team. That worked out in the end because there was no one in there who was dangerous for the general classification,” said Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) about the team tactics. For Van Aert, it will remain yellow for one day in this Paris-Nice. He had to let go on the last climb and came in 98th in more than 24 minutes. And that was not very welcome.

“On the last climb, Arkéa-Samsic accelerated in the peloton and I soon felt in my legs that it was no longer possible”, Van Aert clocked after the finish in Saint-Sauveur-de-Montagut. Van Aert therefore did not just put himself aside to make it half a rest day. “I had planned in advance to stay there as long as I could and certainly until the attack, but I had to let go earlier. I then used my brain and took it easy towards the finish

In the coming days, Van Aert will mainly try to assist leader Primoz Roglic, who is now in yellow, where necessary. “Everything is going according to plan for him and I will try to guide him to the overall victory this weekend. It’s not even that bad for me that I don’t have to fight for my own classification anymore, then I can fully focus on the classics and save some energy here and there.”

A striking finding is that it is only the first time this year that Van Aert did not finish in the top three. “It’s dead, isn’t it”, the Belgian champion on the road could laugh about it. “The longer you try to hold on to that statistic, the harder it gets, of course.”