Wout van Aert (Jumbo Visma) has taken an incredible stage win at the Tour de France in the race leader's yellow jersey into Calais. He rode away from the main field over the final small windswept climb and TT's the final 10km solo.
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) sprinted in to take 2nd place on the stage just seconds after Van Aert, with the young Belgian rider celebrating as if he had won as he did not realise Van Aert was still clear. It took Christophe Laporte, making it a 1-3 for Jumbo Visma, to point out to Philipsen as they crossed the line that Van Aert was up ahead and had won the stage solo.
Van Aert's move, however impressive, was something of a wasted chance for his team in the GC battle as Jumbo Visma, and Ineos Grenadiers, massed on the front on the final 1km climb with 10km to go. They pulled clear - exactly as Jumbo Visma did at Paris-Nice earlier this year - and managed to distance Tour champion Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates).
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Once Van Aert took over the workload from his team mates across the top of the climb, Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) was still with him, along with Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers) - though Primož Roglič, the Jumbo Visma co-leader with Vingegaard, was distanced.
It looked like that leading trio may pull clear and gain vital time on Pogačar. However, neither Vingegaard nor Yates could hold Van Aert, who simply powered on alone and opened a gap as the race blew to pieces behind him.
Van Aert gained about 30 seconds, as the splintered main field began to regroup following the damage of the final climb. And while the sprinters' teams managed to peg back Van Aert a little on the approach to the finish, the race leader still had eight seconds in hand on the line.
His and his team's remarkable demonstration up and over the final climb made for very memorable day at Tour 2022; the first stage back on French soil after the opening three days in Denmark where Van Aert was runner-up each time.
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Today all of the race favourites were in the main field some eight seconds down on Van Aert; dodging a bullet on a stage when Vingegaard and Yates may have combined with the stage winner to gain a lot more than eight seconds.
More to come.
