Back on the roads of Tour de France after several difficult months linked to his terrible fall on Across Flanders, Wout Van Aert made a successful debut. Well on his feet on this 1st stage, which took the riders from Florence to Rimini, the Belgian went for 3rd place. Despite a lot of work from his team Visma | Lease a Bike, From Aert was not able to fight for the win, since the duo of Team dsm-firmenich PostNL was able to resist the return of the peloton, but the Belgian settled the sprint of the group of favorites.
Wout Van Aert 3rd, 5″ from winner Romain Bardet
“I’m really proud of my performance and the way we rode”
“It’s really satisfying to show this once again”declared a From Aert very moved on arrival. “It’s obviously a shame that I didn’t manage to win, but given where I’ve come from, I didn’t expect to be here at this level, and it feels really good.”
“Throughout the race I could see a lot of guys were suffering, and I still felt pretty good”he continues. “So, little by little, I gained confidence, especially in the last four climbs. The first two were the hardest, so when I got over them, I started to believe. I also asked the guys to give it their all for the stage win. It’s obviously a shame that we missed that, but I’m really proud of my performance and the way we rode.”
