"I'll announce it next time and post it on Twitter" - Surprise sprint from Wout van Aert almost nets him Tour de France comeback victory

Wout van Aert has spent most of the Tour de France thus far working for Jonas Vingegaard and building on his form. Today he had a well suited finale to his abilities in Laval's uphill sprint, but his presence was unannounced and a relative surprise. The Team Visma | Lease a Bike came close to netting his 10th Tour victory.

"A clean sprint, a deserved winner? Indeed. It was a tough sprint with uphill sections, and that's why I wanted to participate. I was close and I'm satisfied," van Aert said in an interview with Sporza and other outlets after the stage.

At the start of the day, he wasn't mentioned as one of the men to keep an eye on the fight for victory. "It's nice for me to get a result for once. I'll announce it next time and post it on Twitter," he joked about his unexpected presence in the final sprint. "If you're starting, you have every right to go for a result."

Visma worked quite a lot to keep Jonas Vingegaard well positioned in the technical finale whilst the Belgian moved through the peloton in hopes of participating in the sprint. The lack of a real leadout inside the final kilometer may have benefited the Belgian who came from behind and then also tried to surprise with an early sprint. Only an unbeatable Jonathan Milan came in the way of a victory that would've been special and would've also made him the first rider this season to win in two Grand Tours.

"I'm definitely happy with this. My legs were good yesterday, and they were good today too. As I said beforehand: it's difficult for me to beat guys like Milan". Could he be aiming for a victory again this Sunday in Chateauroux? "I'll think about it. Maybe I'll post it on Twitter, although I'm not sure I still have my password."