Rumours of Wout van Aert’s imminent departure from this Tour de France, it turns out, were greatly exaggerated, but that didn’t stop the whispers from gradually amplifying for much of Tuesday as the race resumed after its first rest day.
Van Aert, so the story went, was going to go all-out to win stage 10 as he was leaving the Tour immediately afterwards to attend the birth of his son. Two and two began to add up to five in earnest once Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) repeated the rumour for the benefit of the TV2 cameras before the start in Vulcania.
Jumbo-Visma moved quickly to deny the story, while Van Aert himself learned of the murmurs via his radio earpiece an hour or so from the finish in Issoire. On reaching the Jumbo-Visma bus, he phoned home to confirm there had been no change to the expected, post-Tour due date, and by the time he had warmed down shortly afterwards, Van Aert could make light of a bizarre situation.
“I wonder what you’re going to ask…” Van Aert quipped at the knot of reporters who kept vigil while he cooled down. “I guess it’s no news for you guys that my wife is pregnant again and we expect a boy. I just did a quick call with my wife to check if she’s alright and luckily, she’s doing well, so I don’t know where it’s coming from. But I’m in the Tour and hopefully for as long as possible.”
Van Aert confirmed before the Tour, and reiterated here, that he would abandon to attend the birth in the event of an early delivery – “That’s a no brainer" – but he appeared perplexed as to how the rumour had suddenly gathered currency on Tuesday.
“I have no idea where that boy [Skjelmose] got that from. I've never spoken to him. But I'll ask him tomorrow. Maybe he wants me to go home,” he joked. “My team director informed me in the last part of the race, so I was a bit prepared for it. I was happy I could make the call and it was all just a rumour. Maybe there’s some guys in the peloton who want me to go home…”
As keeping himself apprised of rumours amid one of the most intense days of the race so far, Van Aert’s multi-tasking on the road to Issoire extended to an unsuccessful early attack, an unexpected bout of suffering off the back, an almost accidental sortie in the company of his eternal rival, and a tour of duty on behalf of yellow jersey Jonas Vingegaard in the finale. All in a day’s work.
“It was hard from the start, I didn’t really have the legs I was hoping for. I tried all the same but at a certain point, I exploded,” Van Aert said. “I needed to rest after that, so I had to sit up, and then when I got back on, I tried to help the team.”
45km from the finish, when stage winner Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) and the break of the day were already all but out of reach, Van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) somehow found themselves attacking off the front of the peloton, spending 15km or so chugging along in no man’s lead before the peloton brought them back.
No content with giving one another a chasing across the fields and cobbles of Belgium in winter and spring, Van Aert and Van der Poel seemingly found themselves inexorably drawn to repeat the experience in the white heat of July. Muscle memory is a funny thing.
“It was bizarre,” Van Aert said. “It wasn’t really an attack. I think Mathieu was in front at that moment, I think riding for [Jasper] Philipsen and he just took the descent very quickly. I think I was the only one of my team who was really on his wheel. That’s why we were in front, but it was for nothing, because of the gap to the break. Still, it meant I was able to take the climb at my own rhythm and I was able to help my leader again in the final.”
Van Aert finished the stage safely in the main peloton alongside his leader Vingegaard, who retains the yellow jersey with 17 seconds in hand on Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates). Twelve months ago, Van Aert made an outsized contribution to tip the scales of that duel in Vingegaard’s favour, and the Dane smiled behind the podium when asked about his teammate’s status. “I can tell you he’s not going anywhere,” Vingegaard said. “He’s staying here with us.”
