Change of strategy at the Vuelta: Van Aert leaves empty-handed, but Visma has no regrets

An unexpected role reversal at Visma-Lease a Bike marked the tenth stage of the Vuelta a España, keeping all their rivals on tenterhooks. Ultimately, however, the move didn't pay off: Wout van Aert finished fourth, while teammates Matthew Brennan and Sepp Kuss did their utmost to hold off breakaway attempts.

A very different scenario from the one seen in the second stage, when Brennan and Van Aert had orchestrated a textbook two-stroke maneuver: the Belgian attacked in the finale, lining up the group and even the future former red jersey Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), before the young Briton completed the job with a winning sprint.

After Van Aert himself, together with Christophe Laporte, had signed a perfect lead-out for Brennan in the fourth stage, this time on the Puerto de Socovos (category 3) it was once again the British rider who made himself noticed, present in every attack attempt and fundamental in reconsolidating the group.

On the final climb towards Elche de la Sierra, however, it was Sepp Kuss who broke away from the group on a couple of occasions, recalling the decisive role he played two years ago in Van Aert's victory in Cordoba: a total effort, giving himself up until the very end to ensure the group remained compact in the final kilometers.

This time, however, the finale did not smile on the Vuelta champions: Van Aert finished fourth in the sprint, a result that consolidated his lead in the points classification but left a bitter taste in the mouth for the victory that slipped away.

Despite his placing, the Belgian spoke to the media, as reported by Sporza , underlining how the teamwork was impeccable and his confidence in an imminent personal success remains high: it would be his first stage victory in this Vuelta and the fourth of his career in the Spanish race.

"Matthew is a fantastic guy, and we've helped each other out many times already. The whole team threw themselves into this effort, and if we continue like this, I'm sure we'll win again," Van Aert said.

"Initially, I was frustrated, but above all, disappointed. You want to finish the job, and in the sprint, I had no energy left in my legs. The last 30 kilometers were chaotic, and I really needed all my teammates to make it to a sprint. I'm incredibly grateful for this opportunity. If we keep going like this, we'll remain victorious."

The Belgian admitted that he may have made some positioning errors in the long uphill battle towards Elche de la Sierra, but preferred to review the images first to analyse what had happened.

"In any case," he acknowledged, "when we arrived at the decisive last corner, 650 meters from the finish, I was not close enough to the head of the group."

This forced him to expend precious energy just to get to the front, drastically limiting his chances in the sprint. As he himself summed it up: "I'm really disappointed about this."

Van Aert repeatedly thanked his teammates, emphasizing how, on a day when cooperation in organizing a bunch sprint had been rather poor, only Cofidis, driven by the desire for another victory with Bryan Coquard, lent a concrete hand.

Asked by Eurosport about the possible guilt he felt for making Brennan work hard and then failing to deliver, Van Aert responded honestly: "Of course, that's what puts pressure on both of us. He feels the same pressure when I lead out for him. But we know how to handle all of this very well. There have been a lot of doubts and questions from the outside about this Vuelta. But we have the green jersey, we've won two stages. If we continue with this team spirit, where we give and take, there are no problems."

Wednesday's stage to Lorca will likely conclude with another bunch sprint, although the significantly flatter route—just 1,300 meters of elevation gain versus nearly 3,000 meters on Tuesday—could be a game-changer for Visma's strategy.