The Belgian cycling star Wout van Aert has won the eighth stage of the 109th Tour de France. The 27-year-old from Team Jumbo-Visma prevailed after 186.3 km in Lausanne, stopping the insatiable defending champion Tadej Pogacar. The Slovenian defends his yellow jersey without any problems.
The Belgian professional cyclist Wout van Aert has won the eighth stage of the Tour de France against the picturesque backdrop of the Alps on Lake Geneva. During the trip to Switzerland, the 27-year-old from Team Jumbo-Visma prevailed in the difficult stage final at the Olympic Stadium in Lausanne. Defending champion Tadej Pogacar finished third and successfully defended the yellow jersey, but has to worry about a corona case in his team.
In the final kilometers of the 186.3km stage on moderately difficult terrain, the riders had to tackle a short toxic climb. The top riders stayed together until the end before van Aert had the best legs in the hill sprint.
The green jersey wearer stepped out of Pogacar's slipstream to take the stage win at the International Olympic Committee headquarters - ahead of Australia's Michael Matthews. The German riders around Lennard Kämna (Bora-hansgrohe), whose dream of winning the second stage of the Tour on Friday was only shattered a few meters from the finish, were unable to intervene decisively in the final.
Hours earlier the day had started with bad news: the coronavirus hit the peloton as Geoffrey Bouchard and Vegard Stake Laengen tested positive ahead of the stage. Ironically, the latter drives for the UAE Team Emirates - the racing team of defending champion Pogacar. Like all the other team members, he tested negative on Saturday, but the case in his own ranks should fuel the fear of a corona-related tour cancellation for the hitherto untouchable dominator.
After the two additional failures, 170 of the 176 drivers started in Dole in the French Jura. After just a few kilometers, at a high speed of almost 60 km/h, there was a mass crash in the field, in which numerous big names were involved. Maximilian Schachmann from the Bora-hansgrohe team injured his face slightly, but was able to continue. Pogacar was also held up but escaped without a fall and was quickly brought back into the field by his team, who had slowed down.
The general hustle and bustle played into the hands of the three escapees who had found each other shortly before the mass crash. Britain's Fred White, Belgium's Frederik Frison and Italy's Mattia Cattaneo then gained a few minutes' lead, but were then kept on a short leash by the field. However, Wright was only caught shortly before the finish line after the grand finale had picked up speed.
On Sunday, after starting in Aigle, the seat of the World Cycling Union UCI, it's off to the Alps for the first time. On the mountain stage up to Chatel les Portes du Soleil, the riders have to conquer two climbs of the first category, among other things. The top favorites are likely to appear again here before the first "real" rest day of the tour is scheduled for Monday, a week after the transfer from Denmark to France.
