No stage victory for Wout van Aert this year in the Tour. He used to go home to attend the birth of his second son.
In contrast to his previous four participations in the Tour, Van Aert could not win a stage in the Tour this year. According to ex-Tour winner Andy Schleck, Van Aert’s Tour was a success, even though he did not win a stage.
“It is neither easy nor obvious to get the Wout van Aert of the 2022 edition every year. He was hugely impressive at the time,” says Schleck at The newspapaer. And the Luxembourger also points to the moment at Hautacam last year, where Van Aert Pogacar went off the rails.
Schleck also continues to believe in Van Aert’s ranking chances, but he also understands that Van Aert is first focusing on monuments such as the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. And Van Aert must then get a course tailored to his size.
According to Schleck, the teams must also be reduced to 6 riders before Van Aert really has a chance of a good classification. “His only problem is that he likes too many races. That’s the new hype in the peloton.” Only Vingegaard is an exception to this.
