Wout van Aert needs action every day. The Belgian all-rounder has held his own in every sprint at the Tour de France so far, and then simply drove the whole field apart on the way to Calais.
Van Aert in feel-good terrain
And Wednesday's stage 5 over the cobblestones, feared by many, is something of a comfort zone for van Aert. "I can't imagine riding around at the back of the peloton and looking at the scenery. I need a goal every day," says van Aert.
And there are plenty of goals. First and foremost is to win the green jersey for the best sprinter. The 27-year-old is the clear leader in this classification.
At the same time, his team Jumbo-Visma win the Tour with Primoz Roglic or his crown prince Jonas Vingegaard. Van Aert is therefore only wearing his yellow jersey as a placeholder - and has no problem with it. "It's not easy to combine the two. But in the end, the Tour is always a challenge," explains van Aert.
Jumbo-Visma on the trail of Team Telekom?
A look at the statistics shows just how difficult it is for a team to win the yellow and green jerseys. It has been 25 years since this was last achieved. In 1997, Jan Ullrich won the Tour and Erik Zabel celebrated in the green jersey in the finale on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. It was the jackpot for Team Telekom. In 2012, Sky tried it in both classifications with Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish, but in the end only came out on top in the overall classification.
There are arguments among experts and fans that van Aert could even win everything due to his versatility. Just like his compatriot Eddy Merckx once did. The reason for this is the last Tour. There, the three-time cyclo-cross world champion won a time trial, the queen stage that led twice over the merciless Mont Ventoux and the final sprint in Paris. No rider had ever managed that before.
Van Aert is needed everywhere at the Tour de France
For van Aert, such scenarios are just fantasies. He is far too heavy to keep up with the best in the mountains. And yet the classics specialist is also one of Roglic and Vingegaard's most important helpers in the mountains. But not only there. The former Amstel winner is also at his captains' side on the cobbles and in hilly terrain. An incredibly complex task that would probably be impossible for almost all other riders.
The team is relaxed about being able to achieve all of its goals. "We'll take a look at where we stand in the final week," says sporting director Grischa Niermann. "Everyone in the team has to subordinate themselves to the team's goals, then we can achieve them." The man from Lower Saxony is just as ambitious when it comes to planning tactics as van Aert is on the bike. Niermann already took a look at some of the stages in December. "Knowledge of the route is simply fundamental," emphasises the 46-year-old.
Paris-Nice as blueprint for Tour de France attack
This was proven not least by van Aerts' outstanding solo victory on the road to Calais. Months ago, the Jumbo-Visma team had already picked out the hill eleven kilometres before the finish for an attack.
At Paris-Nice in March, they successfully practised the closed attack on similar terrain and repeated the feat at the Tour. And they did so even though the competition emphasised that they had expected it because of Paris-Nice. But the restless Wout van Aert is simply too good at the moment.
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