Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease A Bike) might have missed out on a fourth stage win of this Vuelta a España on the steep slopes of the Puerto de Ancares, however the Belgian got here away with one other chief’s jersey in his wardrobe to go together with the inexperienced factors jersey.
Van Aert completed fifth on the stage, three minutes down on winner Michael Woods, however he picked up factors from the breakaway alongside the best way over the climbs of the Alto Campo de Arbre, Alto O Portelo, and Puerto de Lumeras.
These 13 factors, plus one other on the end, noticed him leapfrog Adam Yates into the management of the mountain classification with 36 factors to the Briton’s 22, and he now heads into the race’s remaining eight levels with a 13-point lead over Yates’ UAE teammates Marc Soler and Jay Vine.
Talking after the stage, Van Aert mentioned that even on the morning of stage 13, he did not have a bid for the mountain classification on his thoughts. Nevertheless, conditions change, and it is likely to be one thing on his thoughts going ahead.
“Even this morning that was nonetheless the case,” he advised Sporza of his angle in the direction of the polka dot jersey. “However I noticed Kaden Groves going within the breakaway. I made a decision to make the bounce as a result of he’s nonetheless a competitor for the factors jersey.
“From then on, I knew it could be a tricky day on the assault. Then it is higher to attempt to take the whole lot on the street.”
Van Aert has triumphed within the mountains earlier than – the double Mont Ventoux stage on the 2021 Tour de France is one among his most memorable feats on the bike. Nevertheless, beating the likes of Woods, Soler, and Mauro Schmid on the street to Ancares was by no means probably, he admitted.
“To be sincere, I by no means actually believed within the stage win,” Van Aert mentioned. “I knew riders like Woods, Vine and Brandon McNulty could be rather a lot higher on the steep end. Moreover, I used to be too targeted on all of the intermediate factors. I had already used quite a lot of power there.
“So long as the gradients keep below 6-7%, I can compete. As quickly because it will get steeper, I’ve no probability.”
Van Aert is now the holder of the polka dot jersey in addition to the inexperienced jersey – which he leads with 274 factors to Groves’ 162. He’ll proceed to battle for inexperienced and stage wins. As for the mountain prize, we’ll have to attend and see.
“I’ll positively attempt to survive the climbs,” he concluded, referring to Saturday’s stage 14 to Villablino. “After which we’ll see what’s potential.”
