After winning the penultimate stage of the Tour de France, an emotional Wout van Aert expressed his admiration for Jumbo-Visma leader Jonas Vingegaard and his entire team. “This is really a dream scenario.”
27-year-old Van Aert won the time trial of just over 40 kilometers by finishing nineteen seconds ahead of teammate Vingegaard. Afterwards, the Belgian talked about the enormous efforts of the last few weeks.
“After three weeks you are just broken”, Van Aert said. “I really gave it my all today. Of course I want to win stages and that’s what I wanted today. It was a very fast time trial, but you had to save yourself a little bit for the difficult climb at the end. Technically I didn’t make any mistakes. It was a great day.”
Van Aert had a very successful Tour de France on a personal level. The Jumbo-Visma rider won three stages, including today’s time trial, took the green jersey and was also named most combative rider.
It became clear that the efforts did not leave him untouched when he shed some tears during the interview when he thanked his team and spoke about unofficial Tour de France winner Vingegaard.
“Yes, I am emotional,” he admitted. “Winning the Tour de France as a team is very special and today was really a dream scenario. Jonas is so strong, but above all such a good guest. I want to thank all my teammates and the whole team for this special Tour. It is unbelievable .”
Wout van Aert booked his third stage victory in this Tour de France.
Wout van Aert booked his third stage victory in this Tour de France. Photo: Getty Images