It was a moment of pure power that saw Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) stamp his dominance on the Tour de France, jumping away after an explosive pace was set by his team on the short, sharp climb with 10 kilometres remaining in Stage 4.
After Nathan van Hooydonck and Tiesj Benoot (both Jumbo-Visma) buried themselves on the Cote du Cap Blanc-Nez (900m at 7.5%), van Aert attacked clear of an elite group.
Teammate Jonas Vingegaard and Adam Yates (INEOS Grenadiers) were able to join the yellow-jersey wearer initially, but even they were distanced by van Aert’s furious tempo over the top of the climb.
He then went into time trial mode along the chalk-white cliffs of Calais, building a lead that hit 25 seconds at its maximum as the shredded peloton struggled to form into a coordinating chase group. Most of the sprinters did eventually manage to regain contact, but it was only to race for second as van Aert flew into the finish to win by 8 seconds and extend his overall lead and his position at the top of the points standings.
It broke a run of second-place finishes from van Aert, who had finished runner-up on every stage of the 2022 edition of the Tour to date.
“I didn’t want to take the risk of losing anymore,” said van Aert. “It was quite obvious that we were trying something with the team. We heard through the radio that some damage was made, so I went full gas to see what would happen.
Van Aert spoke of the tough decision he had to make over the top of the climb, whether to wait for Vingegaard and Yates, or commit to the hard attack all the way to the finish.
“I was a bit in doubt, if I had to wait for Jonas [Vingegaard] and [Adam] Yates but I went full gas so Jonas didn’t have to ride,” said van Aert. “In the last ten kilometres I went all out. This jersey gives wings.
“It was definitely a tough climb but this stage was very likely going to end up in bunch sprint, it was difficult to finish alone, but thanks to the work of my team-mates, I did it. It was up to me to finish it off.”
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) led the bunch home to finish second, celebrating emphatically as he didn't realise that van Aert was up the road.
Van Aert increased his lead at the head of the yellow jersey standings, moving from seven seconds to 25 seconds ahead of Yves Lampaert (QuickStep Alpha Vinyl), while all of the major GC contenders were safely ensconced in the second group on the road.
In the green jersey standings, Van Aert now holds a commanding lead, his 170 points dwarfing second-placed Fabio Jakobsen (QuickStep Alpha Vinyl) on 109.
The Tour de France heads to the cobbles for Stage 5, the first time in four years that the peloton has had to navigate the infamous pave featured in Paris-Roubaix. Watch from 9.20pm AEST on the SBS SKODA Tour Tracker, with the SBS television and SBS On Demand broadcast beginning at 9.30pm AEST.
