For his return to competition after two months off, Wout van Aert took an anecdotal 60th place on the 1st stage of the Tour of Norway. Although he had mixed feelings after the race, not expecting “to suffer so much”, the Belgian knows that it is a step in the right direction before the rest of the season.
Who will take part in the Tour de France? Van Aert himself had left doubts a few days ago. “There’s really no point in thinking about it now.”he said before nevertheless specifying that “in the best case scenario, the Tour could be an option.”
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A door left ajar for the man who was initially supposed to make his debut at the Giro this season and skip the Grande Boucle to quietly prepare for the Olympic Games, his big objective for the second part of the season. But the dramatic fall on Across Flanders changed the situation and the calendar for the Visma rider | Lease a Bike could be turned upside down.
Because if it was not keen to participate in the Tour de France, the idea seems to be germinating little by little in his mind. The question mark hovering over the participation of Jonas Vingegaard, as well as the assurance of having a completely free role on French roads could convince the former Belgian champion to finally start the Tour.
The big boss of the Visma team | Lease a Bike agrees. “We are hopeful that Wout will be able to participate in the Tour de France”he told our colleagues at Cyclingnews before qualifying somewhat, “we have to see how it goes at the Tour of Norway and how it all develops.”
So much so that van Aert’s short-term program is still an unknown. A priori, he should line up for the Belgian championship in Zottegem, on a course that fits him like a glove. But before that, will WVA be present at the Critérium du Dauphiné or the Tour de Suisse? The mystery remains.
Vingegaard uncertainty
If the mystery hovers Doubt is even more permitted concerning the participation of Jonas Vingegaard. The Dane is recovering from his terrible fall at the Tour of the Basque Country which resulted in a pneumothorax, a pulmonary contusion, broken ribs and a broken collarbone. The two-time winner of the Grande Boucle has returned to outdoor training for a few weeks and has been seen training in Mallorca in recent days.
“He is doing very well, he is making good progress”, notes Plugge. But there is still a long way to go for the Dane before he can pin a bib: “He’s doing very well, he’s making good progress.”
The Visma team | In any case, Lease a Bike intends to take its time before making a decision in one direction or the other. “We are hopeful and he is making progress, but we want to give him and ourselves time to make a good decision. We do not have a deadline for making this decision. At some point we will know, but we don’t know when that time will come.”
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What is certain, however, is that Vingegaard will only be present at the Grand Départ in Florence on June 29 if he is at 100% of his capacity. A position already held by sports director Merijn Zeeman a few weeks ago and confirmed by Plugge: “The Tour de France is not an event where you show up at the start at less than 100% and hope for the best.”
The situation is paradoxical for the Dutch team which is used to planning everything down to the smallest detail but which was forced into a certain form of improvisation due to the state of health of its two strong men: “For us, it’s a bit strange. Normally we plan all year and stick to the plan. This year we have to adapt, but that’s also part of sport.”
