'It's a shame that I missed the shot' - Wout van Aert forced to settle for ninth in Tour de France breakaway
'I was kind of on the limit on the top of the KOM' says Visma-Lease a Bike rider
![Wout van Aert ninth on stage 18 at the Tour de France](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/gs4tWfsj4FKeMvgG7Pk3vR-320-80.jpg)
Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) expressed his disappointment at missing out on the stage 18 victory at the Tour de France where he finished ninth on the day after being part of a large breakaway on the roads to Barcelonnette.
The Belgian said that while he felt like a marked rider among the 37-man breakaway, he refused to use that as an excuse and was simply not able to respond when Michał Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers) attacked over the last ascent of the day, Côte des Demoiselles Coiffées, with Mattéo Vercher (TotalEnergies) and eventual stage 18 winner Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Dstny).
"It's a shame apparently everybody knows my number... No, It would be really silly to point that out as an excuse," said Van Aert with a laugh. "I know it's hard to win from the break for everyone, and I have to say when Kwiatkowski went, he was strong, and I was kind of on the limit on the top of the KOM.
"But yeah, it's a shame that afterwards, it was actually the first moment of the race when I thought, 'Now I have to gamble a bit.' We were into the most easy part of the stage. So, I said to Bart [Lemmen] to jump with the counterattacks, and I was sitting a bit in the back and came down the descent, and everything was over."
The breakaway split after the final climb with about 35km remaining after an initial attack by Kwiatkowski. Campenaerts and Vercher bridged across to the Ineos Grenadiers rider, and the trio succeeded to the finish line, 22 seconds ahead of a chase-group sprint of six won by Toms Skujiņš (Lidl-Trek).
Van Aert won the third sprint on the road for ninth place at 37 seconds back, once again missing out on victory. Although he has not secured a stage win, he has had two second-place finishes and four top sixes at this Tour de France.
His last stage win came at the 2022 Tour when he won the stage 20 time trial ahead of teammate Jonas Vingegaard into Rocamadour. He'll have to wait another year to add to his nine Tour stage wins, with the trio of remaining stages all for the GC riders.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
He said that he had been pleased with his form, particularly approaching the Olympic Games and that he is not looking to the stage 21 time trial at the Tour de France.
"[I'm] happy. It's really progressing in a good direction, and especially today, I felt really good," he said.
"The focus is not really on the time trial. The Olympic Games are coming up soon. Sunday will not be a real rest day, but one with an eye on next week."
Van Aert and Remco Evenepoel will compete for Belgium in the elite men's time trial on July 27 at the Olympic Games. He will then lead a strong Belgian squad alongside Evenepoel, Tiesj Benoot and Jasper Stuyven for support in the elite men's road race on August 3.
Get unlimited access to all of our coverage of the Tour de France - including breaking news and analysis reported by our journalists on the ground from every stage of the race as it happens and more. Find out more.
![](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/j0riqebpsw1715769462.png)
Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*
Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets
After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59
![](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/j0riqebpsw1715769462.png)
Join now for unlimited access
Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Kirsten Frattini is the Deputy Editor of Cyclingnews, overseeing the global racing content plan.
Kirsten has a background in Kinesiology and Health Science. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's biggest races, reporting on the WorldTour, Spring Classics, Tours de France, World Championships and Olympic Games.
She began her sports journalism career with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006. In 2018, Kirsten became Women's Editor – overseeing the content strategy, race coverage and growth of women's professional cycling – before becoming Deputy Editor in 2023.