Van Aert returns to the Vuelta with his eyes on the red jersey

Two years ago, Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) made his Vuelta a España debut and needed just two days to slip into the red leader's jersey. A brief reign, lasting just 48 hours, but capped off with a remarkable haul: seven podiums, three of which resulted in stage wins. A remarkable calling card for someone approaching the Spanish stage race for the first time.

This year, the script changes slightly, but the goal remains the same: chasing stages for the 31-year-old Belgian, in his first Grand Tour of the season. The Dutch team will be without defending champion Jonas Vingegaard , still sidelined with a broken collarbone in a crash at the Tour de France. This significant absence, however, opens up interesting opportunities: Visma will rely heavily on Van Aert, the young British talent Matthew Brennan , and former winner Sepp Kuss to hunt for daily opportunities. For those who play fantasy cycling, this trio represents a package to keep an eye on closely: three different arrows, three different ways to score points.

The first day of racing is already making some dream of wearing the red jersey, but Van Aert himself, in his press conference on Thursday, wanted to gloss over the matter: "It's an opportunity, not a priority," he immediately clarified, dousing the flames of the most exaggerated expectations.

"Saturday has been a focus of the last few weeks, we'll see how it goes," he said, referring to stage 1, which starts in Monaco with a 9.4-kilometer individual time trial.

"I've been doing a little more specific training for this race. Because there's something to win, the time trial itself. But it could also be an opportunity to stay close in the general classification the next day."

Van Aert missed this year's Tour de France due to a training crash in June that resulted in an elbow injury. Before that, he had only raced a team time trial at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (won by Visma) and an individual time trial at the start of the season at Tirreno-Adriatico. He returned to racing at the Tour of Denmark three weeks ago, winning three stages and the overall, though that five-day race didn't feature a time trial, leaving him somewhat incompletely prepared for the Monaco event.

"It's been a long, very different summer for me, and it's great to be back at the Vuelta. In the end, I had to wait a long time before getting back on the time trial bike. But after the Tour of Denmark, I was able to train as I wanted," he told the media in Monaco, including Cyclingnews .

"I did a reconnaissance of the route yesterday morning. I tried it in traffic, I had a look. Honestly, I think it's a bit too technical. The last part, in my opinion, goes beyond the limits of what you can do on a time trial bike. It'll be interesting to see how it goes.

"But overall, it's an incredible setting here in Monaco, with all the buildings around and the coastline. It will definitely be very special to race in the middle of all this."

Monaco's busy, winding streets already hosted a Tour de France time trial in 2009, and this version of the route is 6 km shorter. Taking inspiration from the famous Formula 1 circuit, Van Aert knows there will be plenty of twisties and sharp climbs to contend with: a mix that could favor explosive time trialists over pure specialists.

"We're entering the mountains pretty quickly, stages three and four, so we don't have much time to take the jersey. But with the time trial and stage two, there should be good opportunities for me. I hope to stay close, and it would be a real dream to wear it again," he said.

"I like this race, I'm really motivated, and yes, I'm really happy to be close to the start now.

"I think it's clear that we're here with a team focused more on the stages than on the general classification, so it's obviously a little different than usual. I'm a versatile rider, and on this route I should have plenty of opportunities."