Wout Van Aert to make the Tour de France? Nathan Van Hooydonck 'curious', says Belgian 'belongs there'
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Published 24/05/2024 at 13:51 GMT
Wout van Aert is back in action this week at the Tour of Norway, as he makes his first appearance in a competitive race following his recovery from injury. According to former team-mate Nathan Van Hooydonck, Van Aert is "still in rehab" as he assessed whether the Belgian will even want to put himself forward for the Tour de France, which starts on June 29 in Florence.
Will Van Aert make the Tour de France? Ex-team-mate Van Hooydonck 'curious'
Wout van Aert (Visma–Lease a Bike) might be able to feature at the 2024 Tour de France - but will he want to?
That was the question posed by Van Aert's former team-mate Nathan Van Hooydonck, appearing on Eurosport's 'The Breakaway'.
Van Aert, injured in a crash at Dwars door Vlaanderen in March, made his comeback to racing this week at the Tour of Norway.
However, he wasn't too pleased with how he had felt on Thursday's Stage 1.
“It may be noticeable that I am not very happy, because I had not hoped to suffer like this," Van Aert told Sporza.
"But I just have to get on with it now.
“It is not a normal feeling for me to just ride there and suffer in the peloton, but I know that this is part of it now.”
There is just over a month until the Tour de France starts, a race that Van Aert would ordinarily have his sights fully set on.
However, this year is now different for the Belgian.
Responding to questions over whether the Tour might feature among Van Aert's season goals, Van Hooydonck said: "I think he belongs there.
"He's among the five best riders in the world, so he belongs in the Tour de France.
"After this week, the Tour of Norway will tell us a lot about how he is doing.
"I think also he needs to make the choice 'do I want to go to the Tour de France even though I might not be 100 per cent?'
"That's the highest level in cycling, he's used to winning stages in the Tour de France.
"He can be an asset to our team [Visma-Lease a Bike], so I'm curious."
Van Aert came home 3'02" down on Tour of Norway Stage 1 winner and compatriot Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek), but Van Hooydonck urged his ex-colleague to take heart.
"I told him he shouldn't forget where he came from.
"He's still in rehab actually, he's not there to win races, he's there to try and make another step towards future goals wherever they might be."
Van Hooydonck added: "The first time racing again - you can do all the training you want - but we all know as soon as you start racing, somebody else puts up the tempo and you need to try and follow it.
"In training you put up the tempo yourself and if it hurts a little bit you can always take off a little bit of gas.
"During this week we will see how good his recovery has been so far."
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