Rumors of Wout Van Aert's departure from the Tour de France were exaggerated, but on Tuesday, when racing resumed after the first rest day, the rumors grew louder.

The story was that Van Aert would do everything in his power to win stage 10 in order to be present for the birth of his son. Two and two began to grow to five in earnest when Matthias Skjelmoes (Riddle Trek) repeated the rumor to the TV2 cameras before the start of Vrkanya.

Jumbo-Visma quickly denied the rumor, but VanArt learned of it through his radio earpiece about an hour from the finish line in Issoire. Upon arriving at Jumbo-Visma's bus, he called home to confirm that there had been no change to his planned itinerary for the end of the tour.

"What am I going to ask..."

"What are you going to ask me? VanArt said to the reporters who had been keeping an eye on him while he cooled down. It's probably not news to you that my wife is pregnant again and we're expecting a boy. Fortunately, she's doing well. But I'm on tour, and I want to stay on as long as I can."

VanArt confirmed prior to the tour that he would abstain from being present for the birth in the event of an early delivery, and here again, he reiterated that "there is no doubt about it," but he seemed perplexed by the sudden spread of this rumor on Tuesday.

"I have no idea where that boy [Skjelmose] came up with that. I have never talked to him. But I'll ask him tomorrow. Maybe he wants me to go home," he joked. I got a call from the team director at the end of the race. I was a little bit prepared because the team director called me at the end of the race. Maybe some guys in the peloton want me to go home, but ......."

On one of the most intense days of the race, Van Aat multitasked on the road to Issoire, including a failed attack in the early stages, unexpected suffering from the back, an accidental sortie with his eternal rival, and the yellow jersey in the finale, with Jonas Vingegaard on his behalf. It was all in a day's work. It was all in a day's work.

"It was hard from the start and I didn't have the legs I was hoping for. I tried as hard as I could, but at some point it just exploded," Van Aert said. 'Then I needed to rest, so I had to rest my body, and that's what I did.'

At 45km from the finish, when stage winner Pero Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) and the day's breakaway were already out of reach, Van Aert and Mathieu Van der Pol (Alpecin-Desseuninck) somehow managed to get past the peloton's attacked from the front and ran in a no-man's-land for about 15 km before being pulled back by the peloton.

Not content with chasing each other across the fields and cobblestones of Belgium in winter and spring, Van Aert and Van der Pol seemed inexplicably drawn to repeat the experience in the white heat of July. Muscle memory is a strange thing.

"It was strange," Van Art says. It wasn't an attack. I think Mathieu was riding for [Jasper] Philipsen at that moment, and he went downhill so fast. I think I was the only one on his wheel in the team. So we were in front, but it was all for naught because of the gap to Blake. Still, I was able to climb in my own rhythm and in the end I was able to help the leader."

Juan Art finished the stage safely in the main peloton with leader Vingegaard. He retained the yellow jersey 17 seconds ahead of Tadey Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates). Twelve months ago, van Art had done so well that he tipped the scales of that duel to Vingegaard, and when asked about his teammate's condition, the Dane smiled behind the podium. "He's not going anywhere." He's here with us"

.