The Tour de France returned to France with its third stage on Monday and with it came the sprinters’ first chance to do what they do best, but once again Wout van Aert missed the opportunity to claim his 10th career stage win.
After losing a late runaway Victor Lafaye in San Sebastien, the Belgian ended up fifth in Bayonne, having wedged between stage winner Jasper Philipsen and the hurdler on the climb to the line.
But unlike the previous afternoon, Van Aert appeared to be in good spirits on the Jumbo-Visma team bus that crossed the finish line. After a quick warm-up, a debriefing with oncoming teammates, and a glance over his shoulder to check the end replays, he told the media his version of events.
“I was in a good position – especially Christophe Laporte did a really good job for me to get me into position,” said Van Aert of the difficult finish that included a 2km turn and a curved road to the finish that inclines uphill.
“I tried to overtake Jasper on the right-hand side,” he added, after jumping off the wheel after taking the Alpecin-Dekoninck train with Laporte in the last kilometre. “But yeah, after that I lost my momentum a bit because we touched each other and I touched the spectators too. So in the last 50 metres, I couldn’t do a sprint.”
Up front, Philipsen went on to take his third stage win in two years, as Van Aert was back up to fifth, his momentum gone – and with it the chance for victory. There would be a brief pause after the finish as the UCI commissioners reviewed footage of the final sprint before Philipsen was duly confirmed as the winner.
Van Aert said it was “difficult to say” whether Phillipsen’s sprint was fair, while Jumbo-Visma sporting director Arthur van Dongen said cycling news And Weekly cycling The problem was more with the curved road to the end.
“I think it’s not up to the referee,” Van Aert said before Van Dongen had his say. “Wout started his sprint in third place, exactly what we had planned,” he added. “The issue is that the UCI rules say the last 200m has to be a straight line and that’s not the case. It’s normal for things like this to happen, but it’s up to the jury to decide. That’s what it is.
“Maybe but part of cycling is the rider leading the sprint takes the straight to the finish. But Wout is OK with that. It’s not up to us to decide what’s good or wrong. It’s up to the jury.”
Anyway, the third stage of the Tour de France is now over, the podium ceremonies and post-race press conference are over, and Jasper Philipsen is the winner. Van Dongen said Wout van Aert will have to wait another day to add to his collection of wins, though it may not come tomorrow, which is the flat finish Jumbo-Visma may be sitting on.
But, despite another unlucky day and another winless stage, Van Aert signed off with a smile.
“Compared to yesterday I am comfortable,” he concluded before heading into another round of post-stage interviews outside the Jumbo-Visma bus.
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