Sprint win in Chaintré "is very beautiful" for Wout van Aert

Jumbo-Visma carried out another day of hard work that almost got unpaid. It was an incredibly dramatic finale to the fifth stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné, but Wout van Aert managed to bring in the bacon as he took his second stage win.

“It was another nervous final after it looked like we had the stage under control at first. However, the escapees started to accelerate at some point and we lost more and more ground. In the final it was stressful again," the yellow jersey pointed out at the end of the day. He was the main favourite for the stage, however the peloton saw itself in a very complicated position where it seemed to be just barely missing out on the catch.

It was with a lot of heavy work from INEOS Grenadiers aswell that the peloton reached the surviving breakaway riders during the final few hundred meters. Christophe Laporte soared through to make the catch and Wout van Aert launched his winning sprint whilst still going through some of the escapees.

He detailed the finale: “It was really close, but I managed to pass them just before the finish. This is very beautiful. I have to thank all my teammates. That's what everyone says after a win, but today they all rode for me. If even the 60 kilogram classification riders lead the way in the final… Then you have to finish it too. Christophe[Laporte] did another great turn in the final," he said.

Van Aert departs to the sixth stage with a lead of over a minute towards Mattia Cattaneo after taking his fifth win of the season, however he isn't confident of his chances in the overall classification: "I'm still in good shape in the standings, but I don't always believe it's possible to win," he concluded.