val van agt tour de france

Eva van Agt conscious but taken to hospital after terrifying crash on slippery Tour de France Femmes descent

The bad weather seen on stage 2 of the Tour de France Femmes caused utter chaos towards the end. One of the many riders to hit the deck was Eva van Agt in a truly terrifying moment.

After all that has happened in the cycling world recently in regards to crashes on descents, the site of a motionless van Agt laying strewn next to a metal barrier was incredibly scary. In an update on her condition posted to the official Twitter account of the Jumbo-Visma women's team, thankfully she is conscious.

Liane Lippert denies Lotte Kopecky in chaotic finale to stage 2 of the Tour de France Femmes

"Update on Eva van Agt: Eva is conscious and was brought to the hospital, where she will undergo further examinations after her crash during stage two," the Tweet reveals.

2023 Tour de France Femmes Prize Money Distribution - €36.980 in total

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Eva van Agt naar huis na vreselijke val in Tour de France Femmes: ‘Sorry dat ik iedereen heb laten schrikken’

Met video+podcast Eva van Agt van Jumbo-Visma heeft onder meer een hersenschudding overgehouden aan haar valpartij tijdens de tweede etappe van de Tour de France Femmes. De 26-jarige renster vertrekt dinsdag naar Nederland, meldt ze in een bericht op Instagram.

‘Mijn leven is een droom, maar gisteren was het voor de mensen die mij lief hebben heel eventjes een nachtmerrie. Sorry voor iedereen die ik heb laten schrikken’, schrijft Van Agt in haar post. ‘Fysiek is alles wel oké: ik heb een longkneuzing, hersenschudding en wat hechtingen, maar ik baal natuurlijk enorm dat ik het team zo in de steek laat. Dankzij alle goede zorgen van het team kan ik vandaag naar Nederland vertrekken om daar te herstellen.’

Van Agt was samen met landgenotes Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Deceuninck) en Anouska Koster (Uno-X) ontsnapt in het laatste deel van de heuvelrit. Van Agt ging vervolgens op het natte wegdek onderuit en kwam hard in aanraking met de vangrail. Ze reed de etappe niet uit en werd voor onderzoek naar het ziekenhuis gebracht.

Lees ook • Vrouwen in Tour de France pieken, maar NOS zendt  De Avondetappe  ‘nog’ niet uit

De Duitse Liane Lippert won de etappe, de Belgische Lotte Kopecky behield de gele leiderstrui. ,,Ik ben enorm blij. Het is heel speciaal om hier in de Duitse kampioenstrui te winnen. Ik ben twee keer gevallen, maar gelukkig kon ik weer door. Het team heeft mij goed geholpen", zei Lippert. ,,Het was een gevaarlijke etappe door de enorme regen, maar eigenlijk hou ik wel van deze omstandigheden. Ondanks die valpartijen bleef ik kalm en ik wist dat mijn kwaliteiten liggen in een sprint heuvelop, dus ik ben blij dat ik dat heb kunnen waarmaken.”

Lippert is bij de Spaanse wielerploeg Movistar teamgenote van Annemiek van Vleuten , die bezig is aan haar afscheidsjaar in het peloton. ,,Ik wist wel dat ze dit kon. Zij is heel sterk op zo'n aankomst die wat oploopt", zei de 40-jarige Van Vleuten. ,,Er stuurden er twee haaks in elkaar, dus daar ging ik naar de grond. Liane ging tegen de grond, dus daardoor viel ik ook. In de Giro laat je elkaar er nog wel eens tussen, maar in de Tour zijn de belangen nog groter en is de strijd nog feller.”

Bekijk hier de terugblik:

Op 47,5 kilometer voor de finish waren Lippert en Van Vleuten al onderuit gegaan bij een grotere valpartij. Kopecky (SD Worx), de winnares van de eerste etappe, heeft in het algemeen klassement 49 seconden voorsprong op Lippert. Vollering staat vierde op 59 seconden. De Nederlandse Yara Kastelijn van Fenix-Deceuninck veroverde de bergtrui.

Eurosport Nederland @Eurosport_NL 🚴🇫🇷 | Ai! Daar ligt ineens Annemiek van Vleuten. Ze staat gelukkig snel op en wordt door haar ploeg teruggebracht. Dat was even schrikken. 🤕🤕 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TDFF2023?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TDFF2023</a>⁣<br>⁣⁣⁣<br>📺 Koers kijk je op discovery+ <a href="https://t.co/9hk3anhnaO">pic.twitter.com/9hk3anhnaO</a>

Kopecky won gisteren dus nog wel de eerste etappe in de Tour de France Femmes. De Belgisch kampioene van Team SD Worx ging in de slotfase van de openingsetappe solo en hield stand. Ze won de rit én pakt de gele trui. Lorena Wiebes, ploeggenote van Kopecky, sprintte op ruim een halve minuut naar de tweede plaats. Ook op de plaatsen drie (Charlotte Kool) en vier (Marianne Vos) strandden Nederlanders. Vandaag kwam Kopecky dus opnieuw aan kop in de sprint, maar door een lekke achterband kon ze het karwei deze keer niet afmaken.

Het is de tweede editie van de Ronde van Frankrijk voor vrouwen als rittenkoers. Annemiek van Vleuten ging vorig jaar met de eindzege aan de haal. Ze doet, in haar laatste jaar als prof, opnieuw mee. De Tour de France Femmes kent in totaal acht etappes en eindigt op zondag 30 juli met een individuele tijdrit van 22,6 kilometer in Pau. Zaterdag is er nog een bergetappe van 90 kilometer met de finish op de Tourmalet. Daarvoor zijn er nog twee vlakke etappes en twee heuvelachtige etappes.

Bekijk hier al onze wielervideo’s

Beluister hier al onze wielerpodcasts.

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Podcast In Koers | Dylan van Baarle en Wout Poels kijken terug op mooiste Tour de France uit carrière

Tourwin­naar jonas vingegaard verrast met deelname aan vuelta, er zijn drie belangrij­ke symptomen voor hartfalen: ‘altijd sokrand in je benen hoort niet’, tranen met tuiten bij matej mohoric na minieme sprintzege in tour de france: ‘voelt soms alsof je hier niet hoort’, hoe gezond zijn melkvervan­gers zoals havermelk: ‘bevatten geen choleste­rol, maar ze verschil­len veel’, jum­bo-vis­ma grootver­die­ner in tour de france, dit is het prijzen­geld van alle ploegen, eerste bergpunten van tour de france femmes in nederland­se tunnel, bekijk hier alle uitslagen en klassemen­ten van de tour de france 2023 met jonas vingegaard als winnaar, zomerfruit en chocola zouden zonder bijen niet bestaan: zo help je deze insecten een handje, tourwin­naar jonas vingegaard wint criterium van boxmeer na kraambe­zoek bij wout van aert, peloton laat zich verrassen: ploegge­noot van annemiek van vleuten rondt vroege aanval af met machtige sprint, terugblik tdff etappe 6: norsgaard verrast het peloton, onbegrip over tijdstraf vollering: 'het is een beetje oneerlijk', vollering krijgt tijdstraf van 20 seconden: 'ik weet echt niet wat ik fout deed'.

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Van Agt strong in second stage but quits Tour after crash

In the second stage of the Tour de France Femmes, Team Jumbo-Visma Women rode attentively. Eva van Agt was part of the lead group, but the 26-year-old rider crashed hard on the final descent. She was taken to the hospital, where doctors are currently examining her. Race leader Riejanne Markus crossed the line just behind the leaders.

The second stage of the women's Tour de France took the peloton from Clermont-Ferrand to Mauriac. Along the way, the riders faced six climbs of the fourth, third and second categories.

The duo of Georgia Williams and Hannah Ludwig were in the lead for a long time. Their attempt to break away ended on the third climb, the Côte des Plaines. After the merge, Yara Kastelijn went on the attack. Van Agt made the crossing with Anouska Koster. The trio went up the penultimate climb together, followed by a treacherous descent in wet conditions. On the descent, Van Agt crashed hard into the crash barrier. Her team leaders and medical staff immediately approached the Dutch rider.

Race coach Carmen Small: "Luckily, we could attend to Eva quickly. She was conscious. Eva was taken to hospital by ambulance, accompanied by our team doctor and a team leader. She will be examined further there."

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Tour de France femmes: Van Agt souffre d'une commotion cérébrale après sa chute spectaculaire

La Néerlandaise Eva van Agt qui a lourdement chuté dans le final de la deuxième étape du Tour de France femmes mardi à Mauriac, souffre d'une commotion cérébrale, selon le communiqué médical de la course. Échappée à 40 kilomètres de la ligne avec ses compatriotes Yara Kastelijn et Anouska Koster, la coureuse de la formation Jumbo a manqué un virage en descente pour heurter violemment une glissière métallique, à quatre kilomètres de la ligne. Consciente, elle a été prise en charge par une équipe médicale avant d'être évacuée vers le centre hospitalier de Mauriac. La deuxième étape du Tour de France Femmes entre Clermont-Ferrand et Mauriac a été émaillée d'une série de chutes, moins spectaculaires et moins graves que celle de Van Agt toutefois.

De nombreuses chutes sur une chaussée glissante

La gagnante de l'étape, l'Allemande Liane Lippert a chuté sans conséquences avant même le départ réel, dans le peloton suivant le départ fictif. Un peu plus tard, c'est la tenante du titre et favorite de l'épreuve, la Néerlandaise Annemiek van Vleuten, qui s'est retrouvée au sol dans l'ascension de la côte des Plaines, la principale difficulté de la journée à mi-course.

Mais c'est surtout durant la dernière heure de course que les chutes se sont multipliées en raison d'une chaussée rendue très glissante par de fortes averses. Les médecins de la course ont été appelés à intervenir à sept reprises pour traiter de légers traumatismes, le plus souvent aux bras et aux jambes.

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Liane Lippert wins stage two of Tour de France Femmes after rainswept drama

• Lippert wins reduced sprint after heavy downpour in the Cantal
• Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) retains overall race lead

The game of cat and mouse between the two strongest teams in women’s racing gathered pace in the Tour de France Femmes as the race leader, Lotte Kopecky, of Team SD Worx, was outsprinted in Mauriac by the German rider Liane Lippert, of Movistar.

Kopecky’s team, led by Demi Vollering, dominated the first stage in Clermont-Ferrand, but Annemiek van Vleuten’s Movistar responded with Lippert’s first Tour de France success on stage two.

In a result described by the 40-year-old Van Vleuten as a “breakthrough win”, her 25-year-old teammate held off Kopecky to take the biggest success of her career.

“I have been waiting a really long time to win a race like this,” Lippert said. “We knew that this was one of the hardest days in the race and we did a recon of this stage. It means so much for me and I hope, like Annemiek says, now I can keep on winning.”

Kopecky, led out by Vollering on the steep ramp to the finish line, had appeared perfectly positioned but in the final 100 metres was unable to fend off Lippert. It was only after the finish line that she realised she had a slow puncture.

“I took the last corner behind Demi and thought something was wrong,” Kopecky said.

“Demi started the lead‑out and I kept sprinting to the line. But it was a very strong finish from Liane Lippert. She deserved the win.”

Behind the leaders, a battered peloton was counting the cost of multiple crashes in the closing kilometres. “I’m happy we finished safe,” Vollering, who finished second to Van Vleuten in the 2022 Tour de France Femmes, said.

“We saw Eva van Agt crash and it was chaos. It was very slippery. I saw a couple of riders off the road, on the ground, in the last descent.

“It was pretty scary at that point. I was really careful. I’d rather lose a few seconds than crash. I did the sprint for Lotte, but she only noticed afterwards that she had a flat tyre. If I’d known that before, I would have done my own sprint to try and take the stage win myself.”

On the final climb, the Côte de Trebiac, first Katarzyna Niewiadoma, of Canyon-SRAM, and then Juliette Labous, of Team DSM-Firmenich, tested their rivals. The final move, from Marlen Reusser of Team SD Worx, was chased down by Elisa Longo Borghini, riding for Lidl-Trek, setting up a sprint finish.

Vollering, tracked throughout by Van Vleuten, preferred to keep her powder dry. “Maybe I would have won 10 seconds,” she said of her decision not to attack, “but I’d prefer to save my legs for Wednesday and Saturday.”

The rivalry between the two Dutch riders is intense. They are expected to shadow each other closely as the race develops, before a first showdown on Wednesday in the fourth stage from Cahors to Rodez, which includes five categorised climbs, and a pivotal battle on Saturday’s gruelling Pyrenean stage to the Col du Tourmalet.

Cooler temperatures and steady drizzle characterised much of a stage which included six categorised ascents and a 6km climb to the finish. But the climbs of the Cantal also proved as disruptive as predicted, with multiple riders distanced in the 151.7km stage.

A series of attacks were contained until the back-to-back hauls up the Côtes des Plaines and Boissieres, which split the peloton into small groups and also led to Van Vleuten crashing in a tangle of bikes, with Longo Borghini also briefly delayed.

However, it was the long drop leading to the final climb that did the most damage, with Van Agt, riding for Jumbo-Visma, crashing into roadside barriers on the fast descent. She was treated for concussion by medical staff but has abandoned the race.

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Treacherous conditions wreak havoc on Tour de France Femmes Stage 2

The slippery roads caused chaos and saw multiple casualities on the second stage of the tour de france femmes, as a string of crashes late in the day left many riders worse for wear..

Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) fought well to hold on to the leader's yellow jersey in Stage 2 of the 2023 Tour de France Femmes. Credit: Alex Broadway/Getty Images

Lippert edges out Kopecky on crash-ridden Stage 2

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Van Aert wins Tour stage 4 in style and extends overall lead

Belgium’s Wout Van Aert, wearing the overall leader’s yellow jersey celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the fourth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 171.5 kilometers (106.6 miles) with start in Dunkerque and finish in Calais, France, Tuesday, July 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Belgium’s Wout Van Aert, wearing the overall leader’s yellow jersey celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the fourth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 171.5 kilometers (106.6 miles) with start in Dunkerque and finish in Calais, France, Tuesday, July 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Belgium’s Wout Van Aert, wearing the overall leader’s yellow jersey celebrates on the podium after winning the fourth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 171.5 kilometers (106.6 miles) with start in Dunkerque and finish in Calais, France, Tuesday, July 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Belgium’s Wout Van Aert, wearing the overall leader’s yellow jersey rides in the pack during the fourth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 171.5 kilometers (106.6 miles) with start in Dunkerque and finish in Calais, France, Tuesday, July 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole )

Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar, wearing the best young rider’s white jersey takes the start of the fourth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 171.5 kilometers (106.6 miles) with start in Dunkerque and finish in Calais, France, Tuesday, July 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole )

Belgium’s Wout Van Aert, wearing the overall leader’s yellow jersey speak with Netherlands’ Fabio Jakobsen, wearing the best sprinter’s green jersey at the start of the fourth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 171.5 kilometers (106.6 miles) with start in Dunkerque and finish in Calais, France, Tuesday, July 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole )

Belgium’s Wout Van Aert, wearing the overall leader’s yellow jersey rides past sport directors cars during the fourth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 171.5 kilometers (106.6 miles) with start in Dunkerque and finish in Calais, France, Tuesday, July 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole )

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CALAIS, France (AP) — Belgian rider Wout van Aert won the hilly fourth stage of the Tour de France and extended his overall lead after attacking strongly on the day’s final climb on Tuesday.

The Belgian rider kept the leader’s yellow jersey for the Jumbo–Visma team after taking it for the first time on Saturday. He also extended his lead in the green jersey contest for best sprinter.

Van Aert shook up the peloton when he surged ahead up the last of the five climbs — a 900-meter ascent up Cote du Cap Blanc-Nez at a gradient of 7.5 % — about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the end.

He said he felt an early attack was the best way to avoid a mass sprint at the line.

“I didn’t want to take the risk of losing anymore. It was quite obvious that we were trying something with the team,” he said. “I went full gas to see what would happen. I went all out.”

The 27-year-old Van Aert is considered one of the best multi-skilled riders in the world and is a former three-time cyclo-cross world champion and a one-day classics specialist.

The Jumbo-Visma rider flapped his hands like a bird’s wings as he sat up on his bike. He crossed the line eight seconds clear of countryman Jasper Philipsen of the Alpecin–Fenix team, with Jumbo-Visma teammate Christophe Laporte taking third place in a sprint finish.

“This jersey gives wings. It was definitely a tough climb but this stage was very likely going to end up in bunch sprint,” Van Aert said. “It was difficult to finish alone, but thanks to the work of my teammates, I did it. It was up to me to finish it off.”

Van Aert picked up a 10-second time bonus and is now 25 seconds ahead of Yves Lampaert in the overall standings and 32 seconds clear of two-time defending champion Tadej Pogacar.

Pogacar’s rival Primoz Roglic, the 2020 Tour runner-up and Van Aert’s teammate, stayed seventh overall and remained nine seconds behind Pogacar, with both finishing in the main pack.

After a travel day, riders tackled a sunny 171.5-kilometer (106.3-mile) route from the coastal city of Dunkirk to Calais, where riders could see the English coastline when they arrived into the much-used port location. Van Aert completed it in 4 hours, 1 minute, 36 seconds.

Danish rider Magnus Cort, who thrilled crowds with his breakaway rides during three intense days in Denmark, was again in the early breakaway — this time alongside Anthony Perez.

Perez pulled ahead some 45 kilometers (28 miles) out and Cort was caught by the peloton shortly after. Cort picked up more points in the polka-dot jersey bid but much more difficult climbs in the Alps and Pyrenees are still to come.

Wednesday’s fifth stage is a flat stage for sprinters over 157 kilometers (97 miles) starting at Lille Metropole and going over some of the feared cobblestones that feature on the Paris-Roubaix one-day classic.

The race ends on July 24 in Paris.

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Wout van Aert wants everything

The peloton leaves the mountains behind. Starting from Castelnau-Magnoac, the hometown of world’s best rugby player Antoine Dupont, the third last stage puts the riders in direction to Paris, with a stop in Cahors on the eve of the second individual time trial. Tadej Pogacar won’t try to recover his deficit of now 3’26’’. He has accepted Jonas Vingegaard’s domination on the 109th Tour de France. The polka dot jersey is set as well. Simon Geschke still wears it but as a runner up to Vingegaard who has a bigger lead than the three remaining KOM points up for grab. Wout van Aert has also sealed the green jersey but, third at Hautacam, he still looks like he wants to win more stages. Last year, he took the last two victories, on the St-Emilion time trial and in the bunch sprint of the Champs-Elysées. Can he make it three this time around? It can be a bunch sprint in Cahors. Fabio Jakobsen, Dylan Groenewegen, Jasper Philipsen and Caleb Ewan have fought hard in the mountains with that goal in mind, but towards the very end of the Tour de France, it’s also harder to chase breakaways down and, to say the truth, stage 19 is the last chance for attackers.

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Meet Wout van Aert, the giant all-rounder in the Tour de France spotlight

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Wout Van Aert

A winner of uci cyclocross world cup series title in 2021, belgian rider wout van aert also is also a regular stage winner on the tour de france..

• 1 He hails from a hotbed of cycling
• 2 Van Aert was a protégée
• 3 His versatility is unparalleled
• 4 Mastering his mind helped turn him into a world beater
• 5 But his family is his greatest strength
• 6 He's up to nine stage wins in the Tour de France
• 7 Winning the green points classification jersey at the Tour de France in …
• 8 Wearing the yellow jersey gave him wings

• 9 He’s taken some hard spills
• 10 There are no limits to his ability

The biggest thing is that I never limited myself Wout Van Aert

Learn more about Wout van Aert

The moments that carried Wout van Aert to the Tour de …

Wout van aert: a tour de force among cycling …, how wout van aert remembers his 3 cyclocross world …, he hails from a hotbed of cycling.

van Aert racing at home in Belgium at the Tour of Flanders

© Kristof Ramon/Red Bull Content Pool

Van Aert was a protégée

Wout van Aert is a master of cyclo-cross's technical and hilly circuits

His versatility is unparalleled

Putting down the power at the head of the peloton

Mastering his mind helped turn him into a world beater

But his family is his greatest strength.

A truly iconic celebration as van Aert celebrates his solo Stage 4 win

© Michael Steele/Getty Images

He's up to nine stage wins in the Tour de France

• Points classification (2022)
• 9 individual stages (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022)
• 1 TTT stage (2019)
• Combativity award (2022)

When van Aert ups his pace he goes all in

Winning the green points classification jersey at the Tour de France in 2022 was a major achievement

Wearing the yellow jersey gave him wings
.

He put in some stunning solo rides at the 2022 Tour de France

He’s taken some hard spills

Wout van Aert kept the yellow jersey on for four stages of the 2022 Tour

There are no limits to his ability

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Tour de France: 'It's a crazy one!' – Wout van Aert and Julian Alaphilippe attack from the start on Stage 6

Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-QuickStep) attacked from the very start on Stage 6 at the Tour de France. Stream the 2023 Tour de France and Giro d'Italia Donne live and on-demand on discovery+ and eurosport.co.uk

Wout van Aert Bids Adieu to the Tour de France Ahead of Stage 18

The Jumbo-Visma rider is heading home to be with his wife as she gives birth to their second child.

Van Aert has been a crucial player in getting race leader Jonas Vingegaard where he is—comfortably ahead of Tadej Pogačar. We’ve seen him leading the breakaways and doing so much work for his team.

The Belgian rider has won 9 Tour de France stages in his career, but none this year—his first tour without a win. “I often had the legs to win a stage,” he said. “But it did not happen…I will always remember this Tour as the one where I called home every day.”

A nice reminder that there are a few things even more important than the Tour de France, and one of those things is family.

Without van Aert, Jumbo-Visma and Vingegaard will be leaning hard on Sepp Kuss. While it will make things a little more stressful, the team is no doubt grateful for all that van Aert was able to do thus far.

Rumors flew early in the tour that van Aert wouldn’t make it through the entire race. Now we know why. Both van Aert and Vingegaard were asked numerous times in interviews if Wout would be leaving. And numerous times they denied it. Clearly it was a day to day decision.

Van Aert said in the Jumbo-Visma video , "On the one hand, it's a strange feeling, but it's not a dilemma. It's an easy decision. I always thought that I would go home when my wife indicated she needed me. That time has come. So in that respect, it's not a dilemma.

Micah Ling is a freelance writer who lives in the mountains of Colorado. She splits her free time between mountain biking and trail running.

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Tour de France: Wout van Aert claims 'best victory ever' over Mont Ventoux

Belgian champion targets further stage wins while helping Vingegaard

Not since Sean Kelly, perhaps, has a rider been able to toggle between disciplines on the Tour de France as readily as Wout van Aert . On Tuesday afternoon, the Belgian champion was edged out by Mark Cavendish in a bunch sprint in Valence. 24 hours later, he dropped Julian Alaphilippe and Bauke Mollema on Mont Ventoux to win alone in Malaucène.

On both road and mud, Van Aert’s cycling life has been a decorated one, with three cyclo-cross world titles and victories at Milan-San Remo and Strade Bianche on his palmarès. This season alone, he placed second behind eternal rival Mathieu van der Poel at the cyclo-cross Worlds and then collected victories at Gent-Wevelgem and Amstel Gold Race, but he suggested this, his four Tour stage win, was the standout moment of his career to date.

“Maybe it’s my best victory ever,” Van Aert said on crossing the line, and he offered his rationale to the written press half an hour later. “It’s because of the way I did it. Finishing alone on a mountain stage at the Tour de France is definitely not something I expected a few years ago. It’s an iconic mountain on the Tour. Mont Ventoux is really a place of history, and also it’s an area where a lot of Belgians spend their holidays and come out to support the race.”

Tour de France: Wout van Aert wins Mont Ventoux stage 11 Jumbo-Visma play down Vingegaard's chances of toppling Tour de France leader Pogacar Spotted: Jumbo Visma on yet more non-sponsor wheels at the Tour de France

The context of Van Aert’s season and Jumbo-Visma’s ill-starred Tour also played their part in the sense of occasion. The 26-year-old’s Tour build-up was hampered by surgery for an inflamed appendix in early May that saw him spend ten days off the bike, while his team has already lost leader Primoz Roglič, Robert Gesink and Tony Martin to crashes here.

“For the first three or four weeks, I still felt pain in my core muscles because they went through them for the surgery,” said Van Aert. “I was training as hard as I could for four weeks at altitude, but somehow my body was not responding like I was used to, and it was hard to arrive on the proper level.”

During Monday’s rest day, Van Aert had offered a joking response when asked to describe his current form as a percentage of his best. “96.3 per cent,” he dead-panned to Het Nieuwsblad . “No, I don't know. I sometimes hear people say they’re 80 per cent, but that is not possible. If you participate in the Tour, then you are close to 100 per cent.”

Whatever the true number, Van Aert’s condition allowed him to sit in second place overall after the first stage in the Alps, through he dropped away on the following day to Tignes. After being the best of the rest behind a dominant Mark Cavendish in Valence, he petitioned to be Jumbo-Visma’s designated rider for the day’s early break on stage 11.

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Of the early escapees, men like Dan Martin and Bauke Mollema had the most obvious pedigree to win over twin ascents of Mont Ventoux, but it was Van Aert’s raw strength that won the day. He simply cruised away from Mollema and Alaphilippe on the steepest section of the second ascent, 14km from the summit, and then soloed past Kenny Elissonde. He reached the finish over the other side with 1:14 in hand on the chasers.

“Everything is good now after a difficult period before the Tour,” said Van Aert, who will not follow the example of his sparring partner Van der Poel by abandoning the race to focus on his preparation for the Tokyo Olympics.

“For sure I will go to Paris. That’s the plan and I believe it’s also good preparation for the Olympics, especially because I’m still coming back. I feel better every day on this Tour, and I’m in a better shape now than when I started.”

Roglič’s early abandon should, in theory, afford Van Aert greater freedom to seek further victories later in the Tour, though his liberty may be curtailed slightly by the emergence of teammate Jonas Vingegaard. The Danish debutant dropped Tadej Pogačar atop Mont Ventoux and he now lies in third overall.

Then again, Van Aert helped himself to two sprint wins on last year’s Tour while serving as Roglič’s most trusted lieutenant in the mountains. Toggling between roles has never been much of a problem.

“For the second part of the Tour, he will have full support, as everyone can see he is up there with the best and I think the podium is possible for him,” said Van Aert. “Of course, I’m also one of the leaders of the team, and it would be a shame not to give it a try to win more stages, I think. So hopefully we can combine both. We’ll see.”

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Barry Ryan is Head of Features at Cyclingnews. He has covered professional cycling since 2010, reporting from the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and events from Argentina to Japan. His writing has appeared in The Independent, Procycling and Cycling Plus. He is the author of The Ascent: Sean Kelly, Stephen Roche and the Rise of Irish Cycling’s Golden Generation , published by Gill Books.

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