VAN AERT BAGS STAGE HONOURS BUT POGACAR IS STILL IN CONTROL
WOUT Van Aert won stage eight of the Tour de France as Tadej Pogacar extended his advantage in the yellow jersey. After a steep climb away from Lake Geneva up to the finish, Van Aert beat Michael Matthews in a reduced sprint just ahead of Pogacar at the end of the 186km stage from Dole to the Olympic Stadium in Lausanne, Switzerland.
It was Van Aert’s second stage win of this Tour de France, while third place for Pogacar brought four bonus seconds to pad his lead in yellow to 39 seconds ahead of Jonas Vingegaard.
The stage into Switzerland looked ideal for a large breakaway to go down the road and contest for honours, but only three riders - Mattia Cattaneo, Frederik Frison and Britain’s Fred Wright - had gone clear before a crash split the peloton.
Pogacar, Geraint Thomas, David Gaudu and Romain Bardet were among those held up, with Pogacar taking a tumble, so the main group sat up to allow a regrouping, leaving three-strong break dangling up the road in a doomed mission.
Wright, the last man standing, was reeled in as gradients hit 12 per cent on the rise up towards the finish line, with Pogacar sitting in third wheel to ensure this was a day where the main favourites would need to be attentive
Matthews tried to light up his sprint first but Van Aert, already so impressive in this opening week, once again had the power to edge in front and take the win.
Victory sees Van Aert extend his lead in the points classification, with the green jersey his goal after spending four days in yellow at the start of the week.
“Of course I’m super happy with the points for green up for grabs today,” the Belgian said.
“Today was a big chance to.take a lot of points from my competitors and I’m really pleased my team put everything into chasing down the breakaway. Then you have to finish it off.”