Wout van Aert flew away

By dint of finishing second, Wout van Aert himself came to compare himself to Raymond Poulidor, the eternal second.

But like “Poupou”, who died in 2019, the Belgian nevertheless claims a track record to make many of his contemporaries green with envy. You don’t win six stages of the Tour de France – in the sprint, in the mountains and in the time trial -, neither Milan-San Remo, nor Gent-Wevelgem, to name only these victories, without being a major champion .

Despite his yellow jersey, van Aert looked a little disappointed after finishing second for the third time in a row at the start of the Tour de France in Denmark on Sunday. On his last two attempts, he was simply beaten in the sprint by two top speed specialists.

Tuesday, for the return of the Tour to France, there was no question of having the tour replayed. Put into orbit by two teammates from Jumbo-Visma, van Aert flew to the top of the ultimate difficulty of the day, the coast of Cap Blanc-Nez, before performing a solo number that will go down in history.

Over 10 km, he stood up to the peloton which narrowly recomposed after the offensive of the Dutch formation, author of the same blow in the spring on Paris-Nice. The rider tumbled into Calais at more than 60 km / h before crossing the line alone, eight seconds ahead of his pursuers, flapping his wings like a bird of prey.

“I wanted to show that the yellow jersey gives me wings,” explained van Aert after his seventh stage victory.

It is not Bradley Wiggins who will contradict him. Earlier on the stage, the winner of the 2012 Tour couldn’t help but compliment the Belgian as he passed by on his commentator’s bike. ” F*cking class ! “, he let go. “Nobody wears a yellow jumpsuit like Wout van Aert,” he added seconds later.

Third two days earlier at Sonderborg, Jasper Philipsen thought he could take his first success by settling the pack in a sprint. But his spectacular celebration turned out to be in vain… The Belgian from Alpecin was quickly informed by Christian Laporte, third, of van Aert’s presence further in the finish area.

“We were a bit too far back, you couldn’t see van Aert alone up front,” said Philipsen. And I had a really bad connection [radio]. So I thought we were sprinting for the win. I saw him just ahead of me when I crossed the line. It is sad. »

In his defense, Alexander Kristoff, fourth, also believed he was sprinting for the bouquet. “It was I who crossed the line and who celebrated, so it was I who shamed myself,” noted Philipsen, a good player in the circumstances.

In the general classification, van Aert increased his priority to 25 seconds over Yves Lampaert (Quick-Step) and 32 seconds over the always unfazed double title holder Tadej Pogačar (UAE).

Swell and the rest

Twenty-fourth in the stage, at 8 seconds, Hugo Houle was able to measure the power developed by van Aert, favored by a three-quarter tail wind.

“There is not much that surprises me about him anymore, admitted the Quebecer from the Israel-Premier Tech (IPT) bus. You needed big, big legs to be able to do that. […] I can tell you that behind it was rolling. Quick-Step, they weren’t stringing beads. It was nice to attack, we had to hold the peloton. Hats off to him, he was strong. »

Houle and his teammates were “a little left behind” when Van Hooydonck and Benoot (Jumbo) started. “There were people all over the place, there was a gap in the climb, so there was a small gap of about ten seconds. I stayed with Jakob [Fuglsang]. After switching, I managed to get him back into the main peloton with Krists Neilands. »

Like Fuglsang, none of the overall contenders wasted any time compared to the others. Among the favorites, Briton Adam Yates (Ineos) was the most alert and the last to be picked up by van Aert. Jonas Vingegaard had a good game in his wheel, while Primož Roglič, the other Jumbo leader, was further away.

Antoine Duchesne took the lead with around fifty kilometers to go, just before the Jumbo-Visma came back up. David Gaudu, his leader at Groupama-FDJ, climbed to 29^e place in the general standings, two ranks ahead of Fuglsang.

Guillaume Boivin had a more trying day during this lively and fast stage, marked by another breakaway from the polka dot jersey Magnus Cort (EF), this time accompanied by Anthony Perez (Cofidis), who resisted until the last climb .

“My crankset wasn’t really turning properly,” explained the IPT member. We realized that a rock got stuck between the crankset and the frame. So maybe it was harder than it should have been. »

The ninth in Paris-Roubaix anticipates a “stressful, but beautiful day” this Wednesday, when the peloton will take 11 cobblestone sectors towards Arenberg. Beyond his personal ambitions, his mission, like Houle, will be to supervise Fuglsang as best as possible. The Dane, a former mountain biker, finished second on a similar stage in 2014.