“People needed to come through the wind to pass me” - Wout van Aert explains barrier-side sprint tactic behind Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes victory

Twenty-four hours after Wout van Aert had been left sprinting for minor places behind a successful breakaway, Team Visma | Lease a Bike made sure stage 5 of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes ended on their terms.

Van Aert won in Villars-les-Dombes after Visma helped bring the race back together, then delivered him into the final straight with Edoardo Affini leading the way. From there, the Belgian launched on the right-hand side of the road, using the barriers and the crosswind to make the sprint harder for anyone trying to come around him.

Speaking to Cycling Pro Net after the stage, Van Aert said the finish had been studied in advance and that the positioning was deliberate.

“Obviously we did a good study of the course,” he said. “In the final stretch it was always bending a bit more to the right and there was some crosswind from the left. So it was our aim to be on the right side. I could sprint next to the barriers, and people needed to come through the wind to pass me. That was the tactic and it played out pretty well.”

The win came after a very different outcome on stage 4, when Quinn Simmons survived from the break and Van Aert won the sprint from the peloton behind. Stage 5 followed a calmer pattern, with the early escape kept within reach before the race came back together inside the final kilometres.

Visma had already won the stage 3 team time trial earlier in the week, but Van Aert’s own day there had been difficult. This time, the Belgian was the finishing point of the plan rather than a rider trying to survive the workload.

The team work before the sprint left Van Aert keen to highlight Bruno Armirail, who had helped drive the chase before Visma moved into the final part of the stage.

“Everyone was committed to making this a bunch sprint, with Bruno Armirail as our MVP, I would say,” said Van Aert. “He was so strong. He pulled that break back and still kept us in position for a really long time. Then I had two big engines with Per and Edo to lead me out. So I’m very happy that I could finish it off.”

Van Aert was also asked whether the race was proving to be ideal preparation for the Tour de France. Visma had already taken the team time trial, Matteo Jorgenson had moved into GC contention, and stage 5 gave Van Aert the individual win that had narrowly escaped him the previous day.

“Hopefully, yes. Time will tell, and I think you should always enjoy the moment,” he said. “I had a difficult day in the team time trial, but I still enjoyed that victory and seeing how proud the other boys were. We put a lot of effort into that one.”

Stage 5 gave Van Aert a first road stage win of the week and Visma another marker before the race moved back towards the mountains. The margin in the sprint came from power, but the position had been picked long before he opened up.