Tour de France leader Jones Vingegaard will be without an important assistant for the remaining stages. Wout van Aert left the tour on Thursday before the 18th leg.
His wife Sarah is expecting their second child. “The doctor says that the birth is imminent. That’s why I made this decision,” said the 28-year-old Belgian. It was an easy decision.
Missed stage win
Van Aert had won the green jersey and three stages at the 2021 Tour. In that year he placed himself entirely at the service of Vingegaard. Despite great efforts, the multiple cross-country world champion was unable to achieve a stage success of his own. Two second and two third places are in van Aert’s statistics.
The Jumbo Visma team should be able to manage the final four stages without the strong Belgian. Vingegaard’s lead in the general classification is 7:35 minutes over Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar.