The best rider of the 2022 Tour de France is twenty-third in the general classification. But who knows, if he delivers an exceptional performance in Saturday’s 40-kilometer time trial, he may end up number 21 in Paris on Sunday. At least one and a half hours from the most likely, formal winner of this Tour de France: Jonas Vingegaard, his teammate from Jumbo Visma.
The final ranking of Wout van Aert, because it is about him, is in no relation to his performance this Tour from his very first meters through the streets of Copenhagen. His remarkably good performance in almost every of the past 19 stages will be rewarded on Sunday in Paris with the green points jersey. But anyone who saw the 27-year-old Belgian household in the mountains, over hills, on the flat, on the cobblestones and in the opening time trial wonders whether there is not much more in the barrel than the win in the sprinters’ classification.
No one had told Van Aert on Thursday that he could also have obtained the polka dot jersey in the tough mountain stage to the Hautacam. ‘Then I would have done an extra sprint on the Aubisque’, said Van Aert when he was asked about the prize for the best climber. “I was just supporting Jonas.”
Only the greatest rider ever succeeded once in the Tour de France to make the contradictory combination of green (for the best man on the flat) and spheres (ditto in the mountains). Then, in 1969, Eddy Merckx also won the final classification. When such a comparison with De Kannibaal is presented to him, Wout van Aert starts to mutter a bit shyly and defensively and an unsteady ‘oh mwah’ comes out of his mouth.
Wout van Aert can apparently win the green jersey and the mountain jersey. And the yellow one? This question has been asked since the last Tour, especially in Belgium. He then won the toughest mountain stage and the last two stages, just like now the Saturday time trial and the Sunday king’s sprint on the Champs-Elysées – Van Aert is looking to repeat this weekend.
The Mont Ventoux
Especially the win in the eleventh stage last year, which he considers to be his best, got the cycling fans thinking. Van Aert was the first to climb the Ventoux with his 78 kilos: even if no descent of 22 kilometers had followed, the Belgian wonder would have won the mountain stage.
That he has lost none of his versatility was immediately apparent at the start of this Tour. He was second in the opening time trial because he had some bad luck with the time of rain. Two more second places followed until Van Aert, dressed in the yellow jersey, still struck and won stage four, just like stage eight.
Van Aert could have won the much feared fifth stage, coined in the peloton as the ‘Roubaix stage’ over eleven cobblestone sections, but duty called. He had stipulated months before the Tour that he could try to go green, but then he had to comply with Jumbo-Visma’s priority and that was winning the Tour.
In the disastrous stage for the team, Van Aert acted as directing aid worker, after he himself had fallen heavily and then almost hit a car. Vingegaard threatened to be seriously delayed due to bad luck and panic, but found Van Aert’s wheel, who not only limited the damage for his new leader, but to his amazement kept his own yellow leader’s jersey.
For example, things went up and down for Jumbo-Visma in recent weeks, bad and good, and Van Aert was always involved in a positive sense. In the eleventh stage he formed the ideal springboard for Vingegaard, who was able to win his duel with Tadej Pogacar on the Col du Granon. The Dane no longer gave up his yellow jersey.
But even when four stages later everything went wrong again at Jumbo-Visma, it was Van Aert who saved the furniture. He provided assistance to seriously falling teammates and nevertheless almost took the stage victory.
Leading for Vingegaard
And then came the key stage to Hautacam. Exactly as he had done in stage eleven, Van Aert took off from the official start and was only overtaken by Vingegaard in a fight with Pogacar at 5.7 kilometers from the finish. Crucially, from 5,200 to 3,600 meters from the finish, Van Aert gave everything to pilot Vingegaard up through the wind, forcing Pogacar to release. The almost three and a half minutes ahead of the Slovenian with which Vingegaard enters the time trial is largely due to Van Aert.
It was the umpteenth time that Jumbo-Visma sports director Grischa Niermann had to admit that ‘Wout could also have won this stage’. The German then often says: ‘But we had a plan…’
That plan always revolved around a Danish, somewhat shy, modest and fragile-looking young man whose appearance pales in comparison to the flamboyant, masculine Van Aert who is bon mots. Commercially, the latter is also a better sign for main sponsor Jumbo, which announced that it will open its 27th supermarket in Belgium this year.
For the first time since 1980, a Dutch team is likely to win the Tour de France. But unlike 42 years ago, the country’s mood isn’t exactly euphoric now that a Dane is winning. A Belgian in yellow, green and bulbs might have charmed the supermarket chain from Veghel much more.
Maybe next year? Stop dreaming, is the message from Van Aert’s coach, Marc Lamberts. Top ten is achievable for his pupil. ‘But’, says Lamberts in The last news‘He can’t win the Tour.’
Reason: the high mountains. It is a question of the power that a rider must be able to put on the pedals. Van Aert has to deliver higher wattages to get up than ‘plume weight’ (dixit Van Aert) Vingegaard with his 60 kilograms. And that difference – 0.6 watts per kilo – is unbridgeable for Van Aert, according to his coach.