Nearly a week has passed since Wout van Aert stunned the
cycling world with a remarkable victory on stage 21 of the 2025 Tour de France.
In a dramatic finale that saw him drop Tadej Pogacar on the steep climbs of
Montmartre, something no rider had done on a climb in two years, Van Aert
claimed his tenth career stage win at the Tour. It had been three years since
his last, but the wait was worth it. While he wasn’t quite at the peak of his
powers across the whole race, the Belgian’s performance in Paris was a glimpse
of something close.
The win came after a challenging season for Van Aert, as
after his 2024 campaign had been derailed by crashes, and 2025 didn’t start any
smoother. He entered the spring lacking sharpness, form, and confidence, and
found himself under scrutiny from the Belgian press. Once again, van Aert was
forced to watch on as his nemesis Mathieu van der Poel dominated the classics,
and the Belgian is still waiting for his first cobbled monument win.
Even in May, despite winning a demanding Strade-Bianche
style stage at the Giro d’Italia, there were still doubts about whether he
could ever get back to his best. But on Sunday, he silenced those doubts by
riding away from the Tour’s strongest climbers on a hilltop finish that no one
saw coming.
Sporza asked Van Aert to rank his five best Tour stage wins
from a pre-selected shortlist, which included his Montmartre victory. The
request was met with hesitation. “This is really difficult,” Van Aert said. “I
would rather not choose,” he added, making clear that each of his victories
carried unique meaning.
However, he eventually did make a choice: stage 4 of the
2022 Tour de France in Calais stood out slightly above the rest. That day, he
finally broke through after finishing second on each of the first three stages,
and he did so wearing the yellow jersey.
The 2022 Tour remains a high point in Van Aert’s career,
arguably the very highest. He won three stages, dominated in various terrains,
and was instrumental in teammate Jonas Vingegaard’s overall victory. That
version of Van Aert, he admitted, may have been his finest.
Still, he couldn’t separate the rest of his victories. They
all tied for second in his mind, a nod to the depth of a career that now
includes some of the most memorable wins of the modern Tour.
Fin MajorCycling Journalist
Fin Major is a UK-based writer at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2024. He is the site’s main writer for FAQs and evergreen explainers and has written around 2,000 pieces for the platform. Alongside this work, he focuses on in-depth analysis and covers the biggest races on the calendar, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, providing clear context around performance trends, tactics, and key storylines.
In his reporting, Fin uses reputable data sources such as ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available. Outside of writing, Fin is an active cyclist, which supports his practical understanding of the sport and its demands.
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