On stage 10 of the Tour de France, Wout Van Aert was criticized by former teammate Tom Dumoulin for his bizarre tactics.

Jumbo-Visma's Wout Van Aert continued to steer longtime rival Mathieu Van Der Pol (Alpecin-Desseuninck) on the descent of Saint-Allier-es-Montagnes, less than 50 km from the finish in Issoire.

Van der Pol initially tried to increase his pace to reduce the breakaway's advantage, which was more than two minutes, but by the time they reached the base of the final climb, there was no chance of catching Van Aert alone and the Dutchman ended his efforts.

"I don't understand it at all. Mathieu (van der Pol) told me that he would play a little and keep running. Wout (van Art) just happened to be in his wheelhouse and then he would take over and keep running. I didn't understand that," Dumoulin said on Vive le Vélo on Tuesday.

"Wout didn't have a good run. He really "threw off" his power. At some point, he had to realize that it wasn't really necessary."

It was speculated that Van Aert was running as hard as he could because he was leaving the Tour to attend the birth of his second child. He quickly dispelled this rumor, however, making his tactics more interesting to Dumoulin.

"The team might have needed him later. I didn't even understand his moves in the final. If you want to win the Tour with Jonas Vingegaard, Van Aat shouldn't have done this," Dumoulin continued.

"With one climb to go, he is two and a half minutes away from the lead group, so there is no need to attack anymore. There is little chance of joining the lead group. It was a waste of energy. It was a waste of energy, both for himself and for the team."

Van Aert and Dumoulin were teammates for three years, from 2020 until August of the 2022 season, when Dumoulin retired.

However, Dumoulin, a former Giro d'Italia winner, was not all negative, emphasizing Van Aert's usefulness as a great domestique.

"To this day, Wout Van Aert has done everything right as a super teammate of Jonas Vingegaard," Dumoulin said. Jumbo Visma has only one goal: to win the Tour."

"Wout can take his chances on the stages that suit him. They targeted him on the second stage as well, but Vingegaard was told before the Tour that, as a rule, he should not help Van Aert. He should have done so then."

Belgian media reported that the defending Tour de France champion did not do enough for Van Aert when Jumbo Visma was outpaced by Victor Laffay (Cofidis) in the finish to the second stage to San Sebastian Van Aert was very annoyed with the Belgian, telling him that he had not done enough for Van Aert.

Van Aert has won nine Tour victories throughout his career and at least one in La Grande Boucle, but he has yet to stand on the podium in the 2023 race. His team leader, Vingegaard, currently wears the yellow jersey, but is only 17 seconds behind two-time Tour winner Tadej Pogachar.

Van Aert's next chance is on stage 11 from Clermont-Ferrand to Moulin. If he comes close to winning again, but misses it, more questions will be raised about how he rode on stage 10.