Wout van Aert produces ‘astonishing’ showing at Tour de France, but should he race for General Classification?
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
ByEurosport
Updated 06/07/2022 at 10:46 GMT
Wout van Aert produced a performance on Stage 4 of the Tour de France that was up there with the greats of the race, according to 2012 Tour winner Bradley Wiggins. Wiggins was talking on The Bradley Wiggins Show after an astonishing attack from Jumbo Visma and Van Aert, and conversation soon turned to whether the Belgian should transition to a GC rider.
Stage 4 highlights: Van Aert decimates field to claim stunning win
Team Jumbo-Visma rider Wout van Aert’s show on Stage 4 of the Tour de France has been described as a performance of the greats by Bradley Wiggins.
Wiggins was talking on the latest episode of The Bradley Wiggins Show, where he was joined by Matt Stephens and former team-mate Bernie Eisel.
An astonishing attack from Jumbo Visma and Van Aert – adorned with the yellow jersey - tore the peloton asunder at the end of the 171.5km ride from Dunkerque to Calais
The move from the Dutch team and Van Aert - following three consecutive runner-up finishes in the Danish Grand Depart for the Belgian – came on the final climb, and by its finish, only the yellow jersey remained. The 27-year-old then time-trialled his way to the win.
Wiggins was still in awe of the epic showing hours later.
“I'm still trying to digest what happened today with Van Aert,” began Wiggins. “It was quite something.
“I was listening to it on the headset on the motorbike because I shot ahead about 15km to go and listened to the commentary of Rob Hatch. It sounded epic.
“And then I got to the finish and I couldn't believe he was still away. It was a performance of the greats of the Tour de France, wasn't it?”
Stephens said that at one point he had felt Jumbo Visma had misjudged the move, but Van Aert then rode “the entire Tour de France bunch off his wheel”.
“I'm still a little bit lost for words,” said Stephens.
“I think it was nothing short of magnificent. At one point I actually thought Jumbo-Visma had gone a bit too hard, because they'd split a little bit and, I thought, is that really what they want? They were basically sprinting up that climb. It was astonishing.
"The last guy to lose contact was literally just ridden off the wheel - it wasn't like there was an attack and I was gone it was looking around it just rode the entire Tour de France bunch off his wheel.
“And then the way he soloed to victory was absolutely magnificent. It was something really special - in yellow as well.”
Van Aert is currently leading the General Classification standings by 25 seconds from Yves Lampaert (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl), with defending champion Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) a further seven seconds back.
“He is just a class act,” added Wiggins.
“And I stopped myself from swearing live on TV today because I can't talk about him in enough superlatives without swearing.”
Stephens continued to lavish Van Aert with praise - calling him one of, if not the most versatile rider - but was unsure whether he could transition and compete for the GC.
“I think he would have to change a lot,” began Stephens.
“But when you look at what he did last year. It was like, the years of [Eddy] Merckx where you win a sprint, a TT and a mountain stage, but I think he might just lose too much time in the high mountains, but I don't know.”
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2022/07/05/3404646-69573088-2560-1440.jpg)
‘I didn’t want to take the risk!’ – Van Aert happy to avoid another bunch sprint
Eisel added that targeting the General Classification has far-reaching ramifications.
“It's something you sacrifice [for],” said Eisel.
“[You sacrifice] your whole life, your family, and everything around you just for one goal. He's enjoying what he's doing. He's doing the cross season, he is doing whatever he wants to do - he can win every bike race he wants and leave GC behind."
Wiggins added that he may come under pressure to make a GC tilt, but the 2012 Tour winner noted that Van Aert probably still has other aims.
“He will come under that pressure from the Belgian public and media too,” said Wiggins. "Because they were already asking that question a year or two ago, but I think for me he's got things also on his radar that he hasn't already won like Roubaix and Flanders.”
Wiggins would also lean on his own experience, telling Eisel and Stephens that his own GC regime was unsustainable.
"I adopted a lifestyle and it became a religion almost, which I couldn't keep up or sustain," said Wiggins.
- - -
Stream the Tour de France live and on-demand on discovery+. You can also watch all the action live on eurosport.co.uk.
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement