Wout van Aert is a prolific winner, but he has been no stranger to riding in the service of others during his time at Visma-Lease a Bike, and that trend has continued at the Vuelta a España.
After missing the Tour de France, the Belgian must have been itching to get his hands in the air at the Vuelta, but the finishing power of Grand Tour debutant Matthew Brennan has taken precedence so far.
On stage 2, there was something of a double strategy as Van Aert attacked on the late climb before Brennan finished it off as the race came back together. But on stage 5, which was also hilly and saw a reduced peloton contest the finish, it was all-in for Brennan, with Van Aert marking attacks over the final climb and then acting as second-to-last lead-out man ahead of Christophe Laporte.
Latest Videos FromCyclingnews
In both cases, the 20-year-old Brennan won convincingly.
“When you have Matthew in a group like that, he’s the best card to play,” Van Aert insisted at the finish of stage 5.
You may like
“I don’t even need to see the replays to know how he finished that one off.”
Asked whether the feeling of setting up a win can match the feeling of winning, he said: “It comes close.”
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
The situation has, once again, triggered a wave of headlines in the Belgian media, where the idea of a champion of Van Aert’s status playing the servant has never sat entirely comfortably. And this is nothing new, with Van Aert producing a wealth of selfless rides for Jonas Vingegaard at the Tour de France over the years.
“Clear agreements have been made and everyone agrees with them,” Visma-Lease a Bike sports director Maarten Wynants told the Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad about Van Aert’s role.
“It was decided a month ago that this stage would be for Matthew. OK, maybe it wasn’t a month ago, but still well before the Vuelta. So that they could enter the Vuelta knowing when they would get their chance. We wanted to avoid having to take it day by day.”
What to read next
Brennan is considered the faster finisher in a straight drag race, and while Van Aert can in theory target the more selective days, Brennan is also a versatile sprinter who can survive the hills and be there in the reduced group finishes.
“We are going for the best chance of winning. So far, that has been Matthew. But the Vuelta is still long enough, and there will certainly be more opportunities for Wout,” Wynants insisted.
Van Aert sporting the Oakleys he’d lose by the end of stage 5 (Image credit: Getty Images)
Leadership questions seemed to be the last thing on Van Aert’s mind at the finish of stage 5.
Instead, he was preoccupied with his sunglasses, or rather his lack thereof. He rode the final shade-less, and launched a light-hearted appeal beyond the finish line.
“I had some new sunglasses before the race and I thought they were already a bit loose on my head, and when I looked behind, they flew away,” he explained.
Van Aert has been wearing Oakley Katos for the sprint stages so far in this Vuelta and they were firmly on his head on the final climb with just over 15km to go on Wednesday, but by the end of the descent his eyes were exposed to the wind and to any flying debris.
Cameras did not capture the exact moment he lost them, but remarkably this isn’t the first time this has happened to Van Aert. Footage from last year’s Tour de France shows another pair of glasses fly off his head as he turns to look round on a descent – which is what must have happened this time as well.
Earlier in the race, after stage 2, Tadej Pogačar gifted Van Aert’s son his race-worn sunglasses after the pair of them had attacked together in the finale.
“I’m not like Pogacar, that he can take new glasses every day,” Van Aert joked. “So if somebody finds them, please bring them back.”
For unbeatable coverage across road, gravel and tech, subscribe to Cyclingnews. You’ll get comprehensive race coverage of La Vuelta a España, subscriber-exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.