Van Aert claims Ventoux stage, Pogacar keeps yellow jersey
MALAUCENE, France — Winning the Ventoux stage at cycling’s biggest race is a rare and celebrated feat.
No wonder a champion like Wout Van Aert, with multiple titles across the sport’s most prestigious events, felt like he posted his best victory ever after mastering the daunting and grueling mountain twice in the same day at the Tour de France on Wednesday.
Near the site where his fellow Belgian Eddy Merckx — a cycling legend with five Tour wins — had to be given oxygen soon after winning the stage to Ventoux back in 1970, Van Aert triumphed following an unprecedented double ascent of the iconic mountain.
The lively stage also gave a glimmer of hope to the rivals of race leader Tadej Pogacar that he can be taken off his perch, after the defending champion briefly got dropped on the second ascent but erased the deficit on the downhill to keep his yellow jersey.
Van Aert was part of a breakaway that formed in the early stages of the nearly 200-kilometers Stage 11 in southern France. The one-day classic specialist and multiple cyclo-cross world champion made his decisive move on the final ascent to drop his breakaway companions, then kept his advantage on the descent leading to the town of Malaucene.
“I know I’m not the best climber, but when I pick my day I know I have my chances,” said van Aert. “The first time I climbed the Ventoux I was 10. It was my first big one. I was very motivated to try something today, this region is really famous in Belgium, and it’s a mythical Tour climb.”
Pogacar was fourth, one minute and 38 seconds behind. He did not lose ground on his main rivals, even increasing his overall lead after his closest opponent at the start of the stage, Ben O’Connor, suffered a hard day and dropped to fifth overall.
But for the first time since the start of the race, Pogacar showed weaknesses when he lost ground to Jonas Vingegaard near the summit.
“I could not follow all the way up, it was just a little bit too much,” he said. “It was a super-hard, hot day.”
In the end it was just a scare and Pogacar holds a comfortable overall lead of five minutes and 18 seconds over Rigoberto Uran, with Vingegaard in third place, 5:32 off the pace.