{"id":626543,"date":"2026-06-07T21:18:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T21:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/626543\/"},"modified":"2026-06-07T21:18:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T21:18:10","slug":"i-lost-control-and-ended-up-on-the-ground","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/626543\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI lost control and ended up on the ground\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nVan Aert keeps comeback in perspective\u201cDid I feel pain? Yes, in the legs,\u201d Van Aert told HLN after the stage.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Belgian explained that his role had been to support Jorgenson where possible before backing off once the pace became too much. \u201cI didn\u2019t have a great feeling,\u201d Van Aert admitted. \u201cI tried to help the team a bit, including by positioning Matteo, and then I didn\u2019t force it. I had hoped for a slightly better feeling, but it isn\u2019t something I\u2019m worried about.\u201d<\/p>\n

That final line summed up his opening day. Van Aert is not racing the Tour Auvergne-Rh\u00f4ne-Alpes<\/a> as a finished product. After his Roubaix break, this week is about rebuilding race sharpness, supporting Jorgenson where required and finding chances later in the race if the terrain opens up.<\/p>\n

Stages 4 and 5 may offer more realistic opportunities than the climbing-heavy opener. Van Aert accepted that the race is still largely weighted towards climbers, but he sees possible routes into the week. \u201cThis is always one of the hardest races, with lots of chances for the climbers. In a sprint or from the breakaway, I can have a chance,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Training crash leaves visible marks<\/p>\n

Van Aert had arrived at the start with clear evidence of the crash he suffered earlier in the week. His right arm was wrapped and his right knee was covered, although he played down the impact. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to hide,\u201d he said with a laugh. \u201cI crashed on Monday with my time trial bike. It was my fault. A small lapse of concentration meant I lost control of my handlebars and ended up on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

The damage was obvious, but Van Aert said it was not serious enough to affect his race programme. \u201cIt\u2019s not too bad, otherwise I wouldn\u2019t have started.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bigger target remains July. Visma have entered the Tour Auvergne-Rh\u00f4ne-Alpes with the Tour de France in mind, and Van Aert identified the team time trial as one of the squad\u2019s first priorities this week. \u201cTo begin with, we are aiming for the team time trial,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Roubaix relief gives way to Tour focus<\/p>\n

Van Aert\u2019s return comes after one of the defining wins of his career. Paris-Roubaix gave him the second Monument victory of his palmares and removed one of the biggest lingering questions around his spring legacy.<\/p>\n

It has not, however, brought any sense of closure to his ambitions. \u201cThat is just to start with, of course. After I won Milan-Sanremo, I didn\u2019t stop winning either,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Van Aert described the Roubaix victory as something that changed \u201csomething and nothing\u201d, calling it a major relief that he enjoyed fully before returning to training and the next target. \u201cIt was a great relief and I was able to enjoy it intensely, but in the end you still have to start training again and look ahead to the next thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first day back was bruising rather than brilliant, but Van Aert\u2019s message was clear enough. There was no panic, no major injury concern and no change to the bigger plan, only the first hard step in a race block designed to carry him towards the Tour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Van Aert keeps comeback in perspective\u201cDid I feel pain? Yes, in the legs,\u201d Van Aert told HLN…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":626544,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,36242,209408,56,54,55,8783],"class_list":["post-626543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-sports","tag-team-visma-lease-a-bike","tag-tour-auvergne-rhone-alpes","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wout-van-aert"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=626543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626543\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/626544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=626543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=626543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=626543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}