Van Aert Keeps Getting Dropped After Partying Too Hard in Spring

Wout van Aert is counting the cost after he indulged his Paris-Roubaix victory a little too hard.

The Belgian megastar is off the back and scrambling for form ahead of the Tour de France after he hit party-mode in celebration of beating Tadej Pogačar on the pavé.

He was gapped Sunday on the opening stage of the Tour Auvergne-Rhônes-Alpes (formerly the Critérium du Dauphiné) and unceremoniously dropped by his teammates Tuesday after just 10km of their winning team time trial.

But team Visma-Lease a Bike is not worried – yet.

Van Aert’s just got to shake an eight-week hangover.

“Wout took the time to recover and enjoy himself after Roubaix,” said team head of performance Mathieu Heijboer. “A lot has come Wout’s way – many celebrations, especially.”

Speaking on Sunday to Het Nieuwsblad, Heijboer asserted Van Aert simply has to catch up.

“When you have to get back into the rhythm of training and racing, it simply takes a little more time,” Heijboer said. “That means Wout has to come from further back than usual in preparation for the Tour de France.”

Visma-Lease a Bike keeps calm ahead of Tour de France

Van Aert capped his career with his emotional win in April at the Hell of the North.

After years of trying, the Flandrien favorite finally got his cobblestone prize in a for-the-ages duel with a seemingly unstoppable Slovenian.

So it’s only natural that Woutjie let loose a little afterward, right?

The 31-year-old went directly on holiday with his family to Marbella before he went hunting pastries on a bike-packing adventure.

Van Aert only swapped celebrating for cycling one month later when he won the Marly Grav gravel race.

Visma-Lease a Bike DS Maarten Wynaants said Van Aert’s return to road racing this week in the most intense stage-race on the calendar came as a necessary shock.

He’s scheduled to play MVP for Jonas Vingegaard at the Tour de France less than four weeks from now.

“Wout had to come down from his pink cloud after Roubaix,” Wynants told Het Nieuwsblad. “But he’s got the harsh reality of an altitude training camp behind him now and has already picked up that rhythm again.

“As far as I’m concerned, he is where he needs to be,” Wynants said Sunday.

TTT humiliation ‘not fun’ for Van Aert

Van Aert said this weekend ahead of the Dauphiné that he was braced for his engine to be slow to restart.

He’s been away from the bunch for two long months, after all.

And he hardly did himself any favors by falling in what he admitted was a dumb crash while training on the time trial bike last week.

But still, the powerhouse rouleur could barely hide his disbelief at how bad he was Tuesday in the stage 3 TTT of the Dauphiné.

“On the first climb, it was immediately too fast for me,” Van Aert told Sporza. “You don’t count on this, but we have to stay calm and do the right things. It’s not fun.

“I assumed it was going to be a tough week, but I thought I would be further along than what I showed today,” Van Aert said.

“Every day is a snapshot. Today wasn’t a good one.”

Visma-Lease a Bike started the week optimistic for Van Aert’s racing legs.

That tone shifted Tuesday as Heijboer called the big Belgian’s TTT “disappointing.”

The clock is ticking on Van Aert’s Tour de France form.

Vingegaard won’t want to see him dropped after eight minutes of a grand départ TTT that will take no prisoners.

“Today was a disappointing day for me. We will see how things develop. I don’t intend to give up,” Van Aert vowed.