Van Aert overwhelmed by Portuguese crowd after Vuelta time trial, where he concludes he was "not top"

Just three seconds kept Wout van Aert from the red jersey in the Vuelta in Oeiras. The Belgian of Visma | Lease a Bike rode a strong time trial and seemed to be heading for victory after he passed the intermediate point. Still, in the end, Brandon McNulty (UAE-Team Emirates) and Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) finished ahead of him.

Cristiano Ronaldo losing in the closing stages after 90 minutes of soccer and then having to change and answer to the crowd: can you imagine it? In the meantime, Wout van Aert does, as the crowd almost ran over the Belgian after his time trial in Oeiras. Wife Sarah and children Georges and Jerome were nearly overrun by the crowd surrounding the Belgian cyclist.

"If you don't give me room, I won't do any interviews," Van Aert sounded with good reason. Once everyone stepped back, the Belgian could still tell his story. "I'm not satisfied. I didn't feel top; it was just good. Too early in the time trial, it started to hurt, and it was a long line to the finish, where, at one point, it was dying to finish. I didn't quite have the power anymore."

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Van Aert thanks Kuss for handing over the last starting position

"I still finished well and am close to the leader, but the feeling was not what I had hoped for. It wasn't great," he pointed out. "There was less wind than during the recon. The last starting position was the best, but it's a shame I couldn't take the win," said Van Aert, who thanked the defending champion Sepp Kuss for giving up the last starting position. Teammate Edoardo Affini, who finished fifth, said afterward that he could barely stay straight on certain sections.

So, what feeling prevailed for Van Aert? "It's unfortunate that I just couldn't win. But I wouldn't have finished so close if my legs weren't good, so that's a good sign. I was thinking about the red jersey, of course. I want to have another shot at red in the next few days. So we're trying to go for the sprint. Everything is still open, so that's good," said the Visma | Lease a Bike leader. "As a team, we started very well. But I had hoped for something better."

On the road, the Belgian set the fastest time, but he was unaware of it at the time. "I heard it was close, which only motivated me more. I gave everything but had a tough time in the last kilometers. And that's where I did not improve," he continued. "The option to go for it in the next few days, though, is still open."