Peloton in disbelief after stunt ‘half man, half motorcycle’ Van Aert: ‘He crushed everyone’ | Tour de France

The Jumbo riders pulled the throttle fully open on the last, short climb of the day and at the top Van Aert turned out to be alone. The yellow jersey wearer hesitated for a moment, but then quickly decided to finish the last ten kilometers solo, successfully†

“This is of course a very special victory for him,” Tadej Pogacar, top favorite for the overall victory, told VeloNews† “If I had done that, I would have been very proud. Cheers, because he really was the strongest. I was too far in the back to follow and just tried to get up as fast as I could and see what the situation was. It turned out to be all right, because Van Aert had also released his teammates. When I saw that, I was calm. I think his squad is very strong and especially Van Aert, who crushed everyone today. Even Vingegard and Roglic couldn’t follow him and that’s good for me. That is a good sign.”

Jasper Philipsen won the sprint of the peloton behind Van Aert and came over the line cheering: ,,I just didn’t have the feeling that someone would drive away against this peloton alone”, explained Mathieu van der Poel’s teammate. sporza his miss. ,,It’s impressive how Wout drove, that’s why I didn’t see it. He had such a hole right away. It’s a bit embarrassing, but it also shows how punishing this song was. It seemed impossible, but Wout does the impossible. Then you will be amazed at the finish.”

“It’s crazy, he’s half human, half motorcycle,” said teammate Roglic. “We couldn’t wish for more, it’s really unbelievable. I’m proud to be part of this team. We were there, the opportunity was there and the men were super strong. Then it happens. If he goes, no one can follow him. Of course it would have been good (if it had worked, ed.), but he was just too fast. I was not in a super position at the beginning of the climb and when I came back there was a gap.”

Teammate Tosh van der Sande, not present in the Tour, expressed via twitter what he thought of Jumbo’s stunt:

Alexander Kamp of Trek Segafredo had a good look at Van Aert’s helmet:

Check everything about the Tour de France herewith the latest news, premium stories, columns, videos and podcasts and all results and standings.