For the second straight 12 months, Greg Van Avermaet has needed to resist the frustration of not making it into his group’s Tour de France choice – solely on this event, with retirement now simply months away, it’s absolutely all of the more durable for the Belgian to deal with.
A former Olympic champion and Tour de France stage winner and chief, Van Avermaet, 38, informed reporters this week he had hoped for his group to point out extra sympathy for his predicament.
With a purpose of being a group employee, he stated, and what he noticed pretty much as good type in latest races, he thought he may need a shot at choice for what would have been his tenth and final Tour.
However that didn’t show to be the case. Moreover, Van Avermaet already endured the identical state of affairs in 2022, when he was not chosen for the Tour for the primary time since 2013 by AG2R regardless of being in what he felt was good race situation.
“It is regular that I am upset, in any other case, I would not be bold anymore,” Sporza reported Van Avermaet as saying. ”Particularly as a result of I knew it could be my final Tour. Then you definately hope for some sympathy from the group.”
Van Avermaet added he was motivated to trip the Tour once more. “It is all the time a troublesome race, however it’s nonetheless the most important bike race. So that you wish to be a part of it.
“A stage win may need been troublesome for me, however I’d have been capable of be a group employee and get in breaks.
“My degree was good, I had some good leads to the Classics, and that’s the purpose while you suppose you’ll make it into the lineup.”
A winner for the primary time in practically 4 years this Might within the Boucles de l’Aulne/Chateaulin one-day race, Van Avermaet recognised that it had not been a straightforward determination for AG2R. However when it got here to his view of the rationale behind that call, he pulled a couple of punches.
“I do know it isn’t a straightforward determination for them. I had hoped to take part within the Tour primarily based on my palmares and my expertise. In different groups, riders have been chosen due to these elements, however apparently, they did not matter to my group,” he stated.
“I now must swallow this bitter capsule and hope for a superb autumn.”
One final Vuelta unlikely
Trying forward at options to the Tour de France, Van Avermaet stated he was not overly keen about using the Vuelta a Espana, the place again in 2008 he took a breakthrough first stage win and the factors jersey – the latter now set to be his solely last classification victory in a Grand Tour.
“I’ll have extra possibilities to get good leads to smaller stage races and one-day races, akin to in Quebec and Montréal,” he defined.
“It is onerous, however I’ve to have the ability to course of this. Let’s hope that inside per week I can put my ideas absolutely again on racing once more.”
It probably did not assist issues for Van Avermaet that again in June 2022, he already lived by means of the identical non-selection state of affairs for the Tour de France, telling reporters on the time in a specifically organised press convention, “it was an enormous disappointment as a result of I used to be probably not anticipating it.”
“They by no means stated I used to be one hundred pc positive for the Tour however I had the sensation I used to be probably not replaceable or not within the group, so it was a shock.”
Final June Van Avermaet expressed his hopes that he can be chosen for the 2023 Tour, saying “I do know I had some nice moments there and I understand how particular it’s to be there, so I hope to be again and I’ll have the ability to cease on a superb be aware.”
Nonetheless, as he found this week, by way of the Tour de France a minimum of, that was not going to be the case.
