Missing out on victory again "a shame" for disappointed Wout van Aert

Wout van Aert is having a Tour de France of disappointments. It had a very positive start but a late attack saw him not being able to benefit from his strong sprint to win and take the yellow jersey. Over this Tour he has been blocked in two bunch sprints, and today finished in second position for a second day on a row, missing out on the stage victory due to an error in the leadout.

Visma had a full-on day of work, chasing a strong breakaway early in the day which included Adam Yates at some point in front. Van Aert aimed to go for a sprint, but this plan was put on the back foot as he led a collective attack from Visma against Tadej Pogacar in the crosswinds early in the day. He worked a lot for Jonas Vingegaard, but was then able to sit back in the peloton until the end of the stage as his teammates and several worked to control the many attacks that looked to benefit from a fast and chaotic day of racing.

In the final sprint Visma did the perfect work with Christophe Laporte taking the Belgian to the front. However, the European champion made a key mistake, completely stopping his pace with around 300 meters to go. Too early, van Aert did not launch his sprint. Jasper Philipsen then came from behind with speed and although van Aert managed to catch his wheel and attempt to overtake him once again, this proved impossible in such a short period of time.

“I was perfectly positioned, but I had to wait a second. Then Jasper came from behind with speed. That’s a shame," van Aert said in a post-race interview. “Maybe I should have dared to let someone in between in the last corners. But in the previous sprint where Jasper won, I let too many in between and I didn’t get a chance. That’s why I absolutely wanted to keep Christophe’s [Laporte] wheel.”

It is a day that suited him well but where ultimately he wasn't able to take the stage win. A weekend of mountains now awaits Visma who will look to attack Tadej Pogacar; van Aert should have two more opportunities next week. “There are enough boring days here, where hardly anything happens. Suddenly half the peloton realizes that there are still a lot of stages to come where they can’t do anything. Then the race starts. Maybe a lot of guys are tired, but if everyone is more or less equally tired, you still get a nice race," he concluded.