A again wheel puncture at precisely the unsuitable second within the Clásica Jaén left main favorite Wout Van Aert stranded and – after preventing his misfortune teeth and nail – in spite of everything defeated in Spain’s most sensible off-road match on Monday.
With round 53 kilometres to move at the beginning of one of the vital 4 gravel sectors, the Visma-Rent A Motorbike chief discovered himself status at the aspect of the street, frantically converting tyres with teammate Consistent with Strand Hagenes at some degree the place group automobiles had been nonetheless a ways in the back of.
With just about a minute misplaced, Van Aert then made a herculean all-out effort to regain touch with the principle peloton, which nonetheless contained teammates Sepp Kuss and Jan Tratnik.
However at some degree when the race was once getting into its essential ultimate segment, and the bunch was once already racing flat out to chase down a perilous breakaway, the trouble proved an excessive amount of, and Van Aert finished the exhausting, rainsoaked path because the remaining of the 45 finishers, 6:36 down on winner Oier Lakzano (Movistar).
“The race was once opening up simply because it all came about,” Van Aert instructed a small team of newshounds, together with Cyclingnews, on the end line in Úbeda whilst in the back of him, his teammate Tratnik walked onto the winner’s podium to have a good time his 3rd position.
“I can have waited to modify my motorcycle reasonably than alternate tyres, however that was once my determination,” he mentioned. “I attempted to get again at the climb, however I noticed I may now not bridge throughout, and with Sepp as co-leader and within the entrance team, I made up our minds to forestall.”
The flat tyre was once of a sort, Van Aert mentioned, that made getting a substitute after which looking to get to the bottom of the placement as temporarily as conceivable your best option at the desk.
“There was once a big nail in my tyre,” he mentioned, “that’s the type of puncture you’ll’t do a lot about.”
Van Aert mentioned that he did his utmost to regain touch, and such was once his effort the space was once squeezed to not up to 30 seconds at one level. Even though a lot of the race was once technical and twisting, on one transient stretch of heterosexual freeway Van Aert’s team may see the principle bunch dangling tantalizingly shut forward. However the distance proved unattainable to bridge.
“There wasn’t a lot level in retaining Sepp and Jan ready. I attempted once more, but it surely did not paintings,” Van Aert mentioned. “I had Tim (van Dijke) with me for some time, and on that climb, I attempted to recover from. But if that did not paintings, I knew it was once over.”
Even supposing Van Aert’s debut within the Clasica Jaén didn’t move in any respect to plot, and a victory in a Spanish race nonetheless stays lacking from his bulging palmares in consequence, the Belgian mentioned he did revel in himself at the gravel roads of jap Andalucia.
“It’s very similar to Strade Bianche,” he mentioned with a grin earlier than warding off to the group bus, a welcome bathe and an extended switch to Portugal and the Volta ao Algarve race, which begins on Wednesday. “This can be a great race. I’d like to return again right here someday and notice what I will do subsequent time.”