Wout van Aert came away from the UCI Road World Championships without the rainbow jersey he had been hoping for. After taking second in the road race in Glasgow, Van Aert was 1:37 off the pace of his victorious Belgian teammate Remco Evenepoel in the individual time trial in Stirling.
Van Aert said he would take some time to recover before picking up his road season again at the Tour of Britain.
It was a rare Tour de France drought for the Belgian who won his first stage in his debut before crashing out in the time trial, two stages in 2020, three stages the following year, and another three stages and the green jersey in 2022.
This year he missed out on taking any stage wins and left early for the arrival of his son Jerome, and said he had mixed feelings about how the season had gone.
"A lot of time, I had good legs and had decent form but came up too short a bit too much, talking about results. It's time to move on and try it again in the future."
Van Aert didn't have a reason why he was so off the pace but said he didn't enjoy the blustery winds on Friday.
"I felt really strong last Sunday and also felt good today. On Sunday, there was one guy stronger and today, a few. Obviously, I hoped for more, but it's like it is."
Speaking to the Belgian media, Van Aert said he didn't have a radio, so he wasn't aware of how far behind he was from Evenepoel and second-placed Filippo Ganna (Italy).
"I was shocked when I finally saw how much I was behind. I really couldn't go faster, but I hoped for a better result."
Van Aert called the Stirling course "a real time trial course" and said that he enjoyed the cobbled climb to the finish at Stirling Castle, but he couldn't make up any time on his favourite terrain.
He was happy for his teammate Evenepoel, however.
"You can hardly call it a surprise. He also often stands out in time trials this year. Congratulations to him. It is super clever what he does as a lightweight on this course. Remco proves once again what for a class act he is - I'm happy for him."
