Van Aert wins stage 11 as Pogacar retains lead

BELGIUM’S Wout van Aert claimed a fine solo win on stage 11 of the Tour de France as leader Tadej ogacar showed a first glimpse of vulnerability, reports BCC.com.

Van Aert dominated the double ascent of Mont Ventoux to finish one minute 14 seconds ahead of Kenny Elissonde and Bauke Mollema in Malaucene.

Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard distanced ogacar on the second climb of Ventoux.

But the defending champion recovered to catch Vingegaard on the descent, and retains a significant overall lead.

ogacar is now five minutes 18 seconds ahead of Colombia’s Rigoberto Uran with Denmark’s Vingegaard moving into third, a further 14 seconds behind, as Ben O’Connor dropped from second to fifth after a difficult day for the Australian.

An emotional Van Aert said he was “lost for words” after securing what he described as “maybe my best victory ever”.

The versatile Belgian national champion, 26, has won three flat stages of the Tour before and several elite one-day races, but this is his first mountain stage win, having shown his climbing ability in support of rimoz Roglic last year.

“I didn’t expect to win this stage before the Tour but yesterday I asked the team to go for the breakaways,” he said.

“It’s one of the most iconic climbs in the world and it’s maybe my best victory ever.”

Van Aert’s preparation for the Tour was impaired by appendicitis surgery last month, but he showed his stunning versatility here, winning a brutal stage in the mountains just as day after finishing second to Mark Cavendish in a bunch sprint.