Wout van Aert disagrees with the Tour jury’s decision to extend the time limit to forty percent. Van Aert mainly criticizes how it was communicated by the Tour organizers. "Suddenly, just ten minutes before the start, for reasons unknown, the time limit is raised." Van Aert himself crossed the line in Peyragudes without too much trouble, although he still had to push quite hard. After the finish, the Belgian shared his thoughts with NOS. "I do want to say something about it: I find it really disappointing that the time limit was suddenly increased to forty percent."
"The conditions haven't really changed, and the time trial has looked like this for months. There’s a rule that it’s 33 percent, and then suddenly, ten minutes before the start, the time limit is raised. I hope I’m not upsetting too many sprinters here, but something like this should be announced in advance and be clear, and definitely not changed without reason."
How does the Belgian view a scenario where forty riders might be taken out of the race? "I would find that very unfortunate, but the jury should have thought about that much earlier."
Disappointment
Van Aert also reacted after the time trial to the time loss of his team leader on Hautacam. "Well, that’s not something we had hoped for. There was a shared sense of disappointment. Pogacar simply showed he was super strong. On the other hand, we are also aware that we are racing for the podium positions and that the path we have taken must be continued," he concludes. "Paris is still a long way off, of course."
