The last team to speak before the Tour's departure is Visma-Lease a Bike of Vingegaard and Van Aert, who will once again have to fight to do better than Pogacar to win the Tour de France.

Last weekend, Wout van Aert did not participate in the Belgian Championship due to a small health issue, but his Tour de France was never in danger and the Flemish rider is ready to start.

"My illness was just a small setback, but it came at the wrong time. On Sunday I could barely eat, on Monday things were already a bit better. And from Tuesday I was back on the bike. Now I've recovered and I think it won't affect the race".

As already mentioned, the Belgian will not try to win the green jersey of the points classification, a result he has already achieved in his career and now his goal is the yellow jersey in the first week, stage wins and, above all, helping Jonas Vingegaard win the Tour de France.

"The green jersey is not on my mind. It's becoming too difficult to get enough points in the sprints and it will be positive for me to race with less pressure, given the more important goals we have in the overall classification with Vingegaard. I'll focus more on stages that suit me better".

Van Aert really likes the first week, because there will be many opportunities for victory for riders like him.

"The route this year is more fragmented compared to recent editions. It will take a long time before reaching the mountains and opportunities will not be lacking. On the other hand, our mentality remains the same. There will be many opportunities for me and my teammates in the first week, that's what I'll focus on. Afterwards, something might be possible in stages with breakaway opportunities. Anyway, I would like to win at least one stage in the first week of the race".

Regarding the last day of the race in Paris, with the introduction of the circuit passing through Montmartre, Van Aert does not see this as something that improves the race and preferred the parade with a sprint finish, as in previous editions of the Grande Boucle.

"I'm not a big fan of the Montmartre climb that we'll find in the final stage in Paris. I thought the final stage was already very beautiful as it was before. People said it was a parade, but in the last hour you really had to give your all to stay on the wheel and then there was always that fantastic group sprint. On the other hand, there might now be some opportunities for me, but I hope above all to cross the final finish line healthy and safe".