'People will say I'm back, but I was never gone' – Wout van Aert narrowly misses on second Giro d'Italia stage win

Visma-Lease a Bike's Wout van Aert narrowly missed on taking a second Giro d'Italia victory on stage 13, being beaten to the line by Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) on the uphill finish in Vicenza.

Van Aert started the day as a key contender for the expected tough finale up the Monte Berico, but there was always a sense that if both he and Pedersen made it to the top, the Dane would have the better kick, and that's exactly what happened in the end.

After his win in Siena, Olav Kooij's on Thursday, and the clearly building confidence around the Belgian after a tough spring, there was some extra disappointment about not quite being able to finish it off again on Friday.

"It suited me pretty well I have to say. I think Mads was just a tiny bit stronger," Van Aert told reporters at the finish. 

"It was on the limit, but I came pretty close, so I definitely had it in my legs to do a good performance here."

Despite taking second and being right there in the finale, Van Aert put his near-miss down to what had happened earlier in the stage, which saw a split on a corner in a tricky moment put Van Aert – and Pedersen – the wrong side of a gap they had to close. 

"I was a bit held up because a few riders missed the corner, and I wasted a lot of energy there with around 50km to go, so it's a shame to come so close," he said.

The turning of the screw in the middle of the stage, which was led by Ineos Grenadiers, didn't have the desired effect of truly making the day into a GC day, but did cost the faster riders like Van Aert, despite good work from his teammate beforehand.

"It was already tricky from the beginning with a lot of interest for the break and a really strong front group, so my teammates had a hard job controlling this, and then I have to say Ineos surprised me with their team attack in this hilly zone," he said. 

"Actually we were in a good position, so nothing bad, but then I missed the corner and I was held up pretty long, so that's a pity."

Van Aert still managed to beat 169 riders, including pink jersey Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), who he also beat in Siena, but Pedersen seemed once again just a little too much to overcome.

This is the second time in as many weeks that Van Aert has finished runner-up to the Dane, after being denied stage 1 victory and the pink jersey in Albania, but the shoe has been on the other foot several times before, and Van Aert is certainly not bowing to Pedersen's strength.

"He's definitely hard to beat, but I came two times pretty close, so if there's opportunities we're still going to try it of course," he said.

Every good performance in this Giro seems to reaffirm Van Aert's status as one of the best all-rounders in the peloton, after a spring that was successful by any normal standards, but perhaps not in the eyes of the Belgian media and high expectations around the Classics specialist. 

And whilst much is being made of Van Aert's supposed return, he had a pithy response to any suggestions that results like Friday's prove anything: "People will say I'm back, but I was never gone."

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