As a former winner over Mont Ventoux in the Tour de France you might have expected Wout van Aert to have kicked off the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes with something better than the rather inauspicious start he did make.
On stage one yesterday, a 146km mid-mountains outing from Viziers to Saint-Ismier, the Visma-Lease a Bike rider lost 24 minutes and finished way down in 127th place.
The reason for this – or at least part of it – it transpires, is connected with the Belgian's unforgettable victory at Paris-Roubaix in April, and all that came after it.
"After Roubaix, Wout took the time to recover and enjoy himself,” Visma-Lease a Bike head of performance Mathieu Heijboer told Belgian outlet Niewsblad. “A lot has come his way. Many celebrations, especially. When you have to get back into the rhythm of training and racing at some point, it simply takes a little more time.
"He has to come from further back than usual," he added. "That isn't even about data. It just takes a little longer to get going again.”
Van Aert himself, despite being active early on in the stage, conceded afterwards that he "had hoped for a better feeling", and that he'd suffered "a lot of pain in the legs".
In Van Aert's defence, Visma-Lease a Bike coach Maarten Wynants pointed out that the stage, which featured a cat-three, three cat-twos and a cat-one climb along its relatively short length, was always going to be for a GC rider more than for a puncheur like Van Aert, and referenced the work he did for GC man Matteo Jorgenson during the day.
“We knew beforehand that this stage would normally be for the general classification riders and would be beyond Wout’s capabilities,” Wynants told Nieuwsblad. “Anyone who thought he could compete for the win here was being very optimistic. Moreover, Wout was quite active at the start of the stage. He attacked a few times. As a result, he ran out of breath a bit on the first real climb. Afterwards, he sacrificed himself to put Matteo Jorgenson in position.”
Van Aert had already "picked up the rhythm following an altitude camp", Wynants added, pointing out that the Tour de France was still some way off.
"Wout has come down from his pink cloud,” he said. “But in the meantime, he has the harsh reality of an altitude training camp behind him and has already picked up that rhythm again. As far as I’m concerned, he is where he needs to be. Let’s not forget that the Tour is still a long way off. This race should allow him to take another step closer to that top form.”
The Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes – previously called the Critérium du Dauphiné – runs until Sunday (14 June) and only gets harder – it ends with three consecutive summit-finish days. However, with Wednesday and Thursday offering less climbing and a flat run-in towards the finish, Van Aert hasn't ruled out the chance of nabbing a stage.
“Those are the so-called easiest stages,” he said. “That’s probably why. Although ‘easy’ is relative here. Those remain tough stages too, but with a flat finish. There might be a chance there in the sprint or from a breakaway.”
