Visma|Lease a Bike is coming to the 2024 Tour de France with the aim of defending Jonas Vingegaard’s yellow jersey, but also with many unknowns given the conditions of its leaders. The Dane is back in the race after his terrible fall at the Tour of the Basque Country and a similar speech can be made for the other star, Wout Van Aert. The Belgian crashed during the “Through Flanders” race, leading him to abandon the Giro d’Italia and completely change his preparation.
A serious injury to his ribs and sternum and some really difficult months for Van Aert, who had returned to the Tour of Norway to regain some rhythm on the bike. These are his words upon leaving Florence quote by WielerFlits: “Everyone knows that it has been a difficult year for me so far and it is equally difficult for me to have expectations to measure. What is certain is that, of all the Tours de France I have run, I have never started one in these conditions. I have strange sensations. The form is quite good, we have worked hard in the past weeks to prepare”
On what his role could be at the 2024 Tour: “I’ll really have to understand if the level I’m at right now, but, in any case, I can be an asset for my team, more likely during the flat stages. Then, if the legs improve, we’ll see what to do for the tougher days. Growth, however, will be necessary to have opportunities to exploit for myself.”
Van Aert is very clear about his 2024 goals: “I have the big goal of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, both for the time trial and for the road race. After what happened to me in the spring, racing the Tour is the best thing for me, in view of the Olympics, but the Tour is not a race you can take on to prepare for other races.”
More on his expectations: “I hope to be competitive both in the sprints and in other stages. Last weekend I tried to sprint, at the National Championship, but it didn’t go very well. You have to be at your best if you want to be in the winning conversation. Here at the Tour, with the beautiful, and very tough, start that awaits us, I will immediately understand what I will be able to do and, above all, what I will not be able to do”
