Van Aert: "This is a rude day"

to Belgiumkay Wout van Aert He was not entertained by keeping the Tour’s yellow jersey after the fifth period, with eleven cobbled sections, where his team, the Jumbo, were expected to be offensive and eventually forced to defend their self.

“It’s been a shitty day,” said Van Aert, who fell more than 70 kilometers from the finish line and devoted most of his energy to minimizing his teammate’s lost time. jonas vingegaardsecond to last edition and victim of mechanical damage.

He was so well involved in this task that he kept the yellow jersey at the finish line with a 13 -second lead over the American. Neilsen Powerss.

“I thought I was going to lose lead after the crash, because I was so far from favorites. I limited myself to working for Vingegaard, to reduce losses. I didn’t see Roglic fall ”, said the Belgian.

Roglic crossed the finish line more than 2 minutes behind his compatriot Tadej Pogacar.

But Van Aert considers that if the fall he experienced doesn’t leave him with physical consequences, he remains “one of the strongest in the peloton” and, therefore, one of the rivals for the podium.

“One minute may seem like too much, but not that much, we have two very strong riders on the team and Vingegaard is very close overall,” he said.

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Despite the bad luck they had, Van Aert indicated that the stage showed Jumbo’s strength, although he regretted that it was a day they marked to make up for the time they had to face “defensively”.

The Belgian ensured that the fall left him “somewhat bewildered” and, therefore, shortly after he was about to collide with a team car. DSM. “I almost didn’t have another more serious fall,” he said.

Recovering from the fear, Van Aert finished a great period that allowed Vingegaard to lose just 13 seconds in relation to Pogacar. “I feel like my legs are fine again, maybe I’m not serious,” he said.