Tour de France concludes, but Wout van Aert remains: "Hopefully, I'll get some peace here"

In Nice, Van Aert had enough breath left to speak with Sporza. "It went well. For me, it was about maintaining a nice pace and not pushing too hard. I approached it as good training for next Saturday," indicating that his mind is already partly on the Olympic time trial in Paris.

How did he do that? "By staying in the time trial position as much as possible, although it turned out to be quite risky without reconnoitering. I finished safely, and that was important, so I could have an extra day of rest for next week," said Van Aert. "It was quite treacherous, but I had been warned about that. When you go uphill for so long, you also have to go downhill. If you have reconnoitered well, there is nothing insurmountable. It's a matter of keeping your eyes open."

Wout van Aert will not be seen in the post-Tour criteriums in the coming days, as he will start the Olympic time trial on Saturday. "I'm staying on the Côte d'Azur for a bit, so I hope they can leave me alone there for a while," he said with a wink to Belgian TV.

"I'm taking a breather with my family, and then I'll travel to Paris on Wednesday to scout the course and get the engine running," said the Belgian rider from Visma | Lease a Bike. After that, he will also compete in the Olympic road race and the Vuelta a España.