CALAIS, France (Reuters) - Wout van Aert extended his overall lead in the Tour de France when he finished off some sterling team work to win the fourth stage on Tuesday, having finished second on the opening three race days.
The Jumbo Visma rider left all his rivals gasping for air on the final hill of the 171.5-km ride from Dunkirk after his Jumbo Visma team’s brutal acceleration blew apart the peloton.
The Belgian jumped away from a skimmed pack with less than 12km left in the short ascent of the Cote du Cap Blanc Nez and never looked back to clinch his seventh individual stage win on the Tour.
Belgian Jasper Philipsen took second place with France’s Christophe Laporte finishing third, eight seconds behind.
Overall, Van Aert leads compatriot Yves Lampaert (Quick Step Alpha Vinyl) by 25 seconds and defending champion Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates) by 32.
“Usually it’s third time lucky, but it was fourth time for me but that’s also good,” said Van Aert.
“It’s outstanding because these stages usually end in a bunch sprint, it’s almost impossible to win solo.”
France’s Anthony Perez and Dane Magnus Cort Nielsen formed the day’s breakaway and built a decent lead but it was never going to stick as the sprinters’ teams controlled the gap.
A brutal acceleration by the Quick Step Alpha Vinyl team split the bunch after the descent of the Cote de Cassel, some 130km from the finish.
The peloton quickly regrouped, however.
The sprinters’ teams upped the pace midway through the stage and the leading duo’s seven-minute advantage started to melt.
The stage really came to life when Van Aert’s team mates went full gas in the last short climb of the day before the Belgian went solo.