Rumours of Wout van Aert’s imminent departure from this Tour de France, it turns out, were greatly exaggerated, but that didn’t stop the whispers from gradually amplifying for much of Tuesday as the race resumed after its first rest day.
Van Aert, so the story went, was going to go all-out to win stage 11 as he was leaving the Tour immediately afterwards to attend the birth of his son. Two and two began to add up to five in earnest once Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) repeated the rumour for the benefit of the TV2 cameras before the start in Vulcania.
Jumbo-Visma moved quickly to deny the story, while Van Aert himself learned of the murmurs via his radio earpiece an hour or so from the finish in Issoire. On reaching the Jumbo-Visma bus, he phoned home to confirm there had been no change to the expected, post-Tour due date, and by the time he had warmed down shortly afterwards, Van Aert could make light of a bizarre situation.
“I wonder what you’re going to ask…” Van Aert quipped at the knot of reporters who kept vigil while he cooled down. “I guess it’s no news for you guys that my wife is pregnant again and we expect a boy. I just did a quick call with my wife to check if she’s alright and luckily, she’s doing well, so I don’t know where it’s coming from. But I’m in the Tour and hopefully for as long as possible.”
Van Aert confirmed before the Tour, and reiterated here, that he would abandon to attend the birth in the event of an early delivery – “That’s a no brainer” – but he appeared perplexed as to how the rumour had suddenly gathered currency on Tuesday.
“I have no idea where that boy [Skjelmose] got that from. I’ve never spoken to him. But I’ll ask him tomorrow. Maybe he wants me to go home,” he joked. “My team director informed me in the last part of the race, so I was a bit prepared for it. I was happy I could make the call and it was all just a rumour. Maybe there’s some guys in the peloton who want me to go home…”
As keeping himself apprised of rumours amid one of the most intense days of the race so far, Van Aert’s multi-tasking on the road to Issoire extended to an unsuccessful early attack, an unexpected bout of suffering off the back, an almost accidental sortie in the company of his eternal rival, and a tour of duty on behalf of yellow jersey Jonas Vingegaard in the finale. All in a day’s work.
“It was hard from the start, I didn’t really have the legs I was hoping for. I tried all the same…
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