tour reporter
Team Jumbo-Visma launches a surprise attack on Stage 4. Wout van Aert manages to win, but the plan still doesn’t quite work out.
The man in the yellow jersey spread his arms and waved them up and down like the seagulls over the wide beach of Calais. “This jersey gives you wings”explained Wout van Aert after his solo ride to the finish of the 4th stage of Tour de France. “I flew the last ten kilometers. Arriving here alone in the yellow jersey is something very special. I’ll remember that for a long time.”
Stage marked for a long time
It was indeed a remarkable solo effort by the 27-year-old Belgian, who had finished second three times in the first three stages. And this time finally ended up at the top. On a day when the field on the 171.5 kilometers between Dunkirk and Calais had to roll over many narrow roads with rough asphalt and over numerous hills.
On the last of these climbs, the Cote du Cap Blanc-Nezthe Jumbo Visma team had prepared the attack with an increase in speed, which was far more than just an attempt to vto Aert to finally get his stage win. “We marked this stage long before the tour”reported van Aert. “We wanted to do some damage here and try something for both the yellow jersey and the green jersey.”
Roglic and Vingegaard should call
Van Aert is currently ahead in both ratings. He should Maillot Vert of the sprinter with the best points to Paris. On the other hand, he is currently only wearing the yellow jersey as a representative. According to the team, that should be the case Maillot Jaune in the end either Primoz Roglic or Jonas Vingegaard belong – the two captains of the Dutch team.
Part of the plan to achieve this goal is also to put the Tour winner of the past two years, Tadej Pogacar, on the defensive early on. If only to take a few seconds off him before the high mountain stages. And that was exactly one component of the strategy on the way to Calais. Because Roglic and Vingegaard should have called with van Aert.
Vingegaard initially jumped after him, together with the Briton Adam Yates from Team Ineosgrenadiers. But in the end vto Aert either “too fast”as Roglic said, or the two captains were placed a bit too far behind, like teammates Christophe Laporte criticized.
Blueprint at Paris-Nice
Jumbo-Visma had already drawn the blueprint for such a scenario in the spring. On the 1st stage of the Paris-Nice long-distance journey LaporteRoglic and vto Aert used a less steep, but somewhat longer ascent shortly before the finish to then take first, second and third place together in a kind of team time trial.
“It didn’t go well”Vingegaard complained later. “I would have liked it.” Especially since apparently not everyone in the field had realized that there had been an attack at the top. About at Jasper Phillipsenwho won the sprint for second place and cheered as if he had landed the long-awaited stage win.
“I thought they were all still together”, said Philipsen embarrassed at the finish. As Jumbo Visma vto Aerts Attack launched, the Belgian was placed quite far behind. Also his teammate Mathieu vat the pool – for years on many terrains a rival of vto Aert – had obviously not been in the picture, as confirmed by Philipsen.
Also Pogacar too far behind
Top favorite for overall victory, two-time Tour winner Tadej Pogacar, was not well placed when Jumbo-Visma launched the attack. “I was a little too far behind”, admitted the Slovenian. If his competitors’ plan had worked out completely, it could have cost him a few seconds. “Maybe that makes him think”said Jumbo Visma coach Frans Maasen.
It is doubtful that Pogacar will be impressed by an attack that somehow ended up only halfway. On the 5th stage over the dreaded cobblestones of the spring classic Paris-Roubaix he will face further attacks. “It’s going to be a great show”guesses Pogacar.