With Wout van Aert one of the very big superstars of cycling takes part in the Deutschland Tour. The Belgian cannot be heard of big announcements. Quite the opposite.
There is a lot going on in Arnsberg. Around 200 athletes from 22 countries made a pilgrimage to the town in the Hochsauerlandkreis these days. Your goal: to bug the ball into a small hole with the help of a racket and in as few attempts as possible. One suspects that it has little to do with cycling, but a lot with precision and skill. We are talking about the MiniGolf World Championship, which is currently being held at the MSK Neheim-Hüsten.
But as exciting as mini golf may be, today the precision athletes had to share attention with a different spectacle. Less than two kilometers away, the second stage of the Germany tour stopped. And with her also Wout van Aert, one of the superstars of sport.
Germany tour as preparation
“He wanted to come and we left him”Fabian Wegmann answers the question of how you would have made it that a big name of all things takes part in a comparatively small tour like the Germany Tour. “Of course we asked a few times what it looks like. After the Tour de France, he first had to see what kind of physical condition he is in. The season so far was long. But in the end he really wanted it to be”according to the tour director of the tour and ARD expert.
And so Van Aert celebrates his premiere at the Germany Tour this year. The fact that it is not that big is actually one of the reasons why he is here. “With the Tour de France and that Giro d’Italia I already had very big races this season, which is why there are not many goals left “the Belgian says in an interview with the sports show. “The Germany Tour is a good preparation for the remaining races of the season.”
A special victory in Paris
Of course, a name like Wout van Aert also attracts the fans to the route. At every corner, people keep signs up with his name, the team bus of Visma lease a bike In addition to the most popular in the paddock in the German tour hero Florian Lipowitz. Hardly surprisingly, Van Aert’s successes are quite impressive: the 30-year-old won victories in several classics, two medals at the Olympic Games and won ten stages at the Tour de France.
Most recently, this was the case on the last tour, where van Aert triumphed on the last stage. A special victory, as he thinks. “The tour was not easy at all and then ending it in this way means a lot to me”such an emotional van Aert. “Suddenly all the hardships were worth it. Only days later I realized that this victory really touched a lot of people. I still get messages every day.”
Van Aert a normal type
Such memorable scenes are not to be expected here, Wegmann dampens the expectations of van Aert. The reason is the route profile of this year’s tour. “If we now had high mountains and would be in a top constitution, then clear”according to the former cycling professional. Instead, the Belgian repeatedly takes up the role of a helper, fetches bottles, drives the leadout to the sprint. “The race here also gives him the opportunity to return the boys who supported him on the tour.”
So far, his teammate has benefited from this so far Matthew Brennanwho grabbed victory in the sprint on the first stage from Essen to Herford. In general, Van Aert repeatedly emphasizes that it is not just to be paid to him. A declaration of war sounds different. “I want to perform well, but we have a second card with Matthew that we can play.” Brennan, on the other hand, enjoys driving together with such a star race as he said after his victory. “He achieved some great success in his career, so it is pretty cool to be able to learn from him. But actually he is a normal type like everyone else.”
Van Aert in striking distance
This “completely normal type” in the second stage from Herford to Essen led the overall classification, but is now in fourth place; It is 15 seconds on the leading trio for the winner Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates – XRG), which, thanks to a successful test attempt, brought itself into this promising position just under eight kilometers before the finish.
The third and penultimate stage, on which the preliminary decision could be made about the winner of the Germany Tour, is also likely to be van Aert.
Incidentally, the start takes place in Arnsberg. So another day when the mini golfers have to share the attention with the cyclists. When asked about this, Fabian Wegmann has to laugh warmly. “We don’t want to be a competition at all. People can first look at the bike race and then to the mini golf.” He should not say that too loudly, because Wout van Aert also likes to play a round here and there. For example during his break after the Tour de France. So how good that the Tour Tross moves on to Kassel on Saturday. The mini golf World Cup stays in Arnsberg for a day longer.