Wout van Aert claims thrilling solo stage win to extend Tour lead

Wout van Aert, wearing the yellow jersey, took a spectacular lone win in stage four of the 2022 Tour de France in Calais, after attacking from the peloton in the closing stages of the 171.5km stage from Dunkirk. In a collective show of strength from his Jumbo-Visma team, the 27-year-old Belgian broke clear on the final climb, the Cote du Cap Blanc-Nez overlooking the English Channel, after teammates Tiesj Benoot and Jonas Vingegaard accelerated on the steepest sections of the headland.

Only Adam Yates of Ineos Grenadiers and Vingegaard were able to follow Van Aert, with even defending champion Tadej Pogacar among those left desperately chasing. But on the rolling approach to Calais, Van Aert, who placed second in all three stages in last weekend’s Grand Depart, dropped all his pursuers and finally took a stage win in this year’s race.

After the long transfer from Denmark, it seemed that Magnus Cort Neilson (EF Education EasyPost) had travelled best of all, after spending another day racing in the breakaway. The Dane traversed the 400km threshold of breakaway riding in this Tour after only four stages, one of which was a time trial. Swept up with 40 kilometres remaining, the Dane increased his lead in the King of the Mountains, his final points haul coming on the fourth category Cote de Ventus, a less daunting challenge than the similarly pronounced Mont Ventoux.

Now all eyes turn towards Wednesday’s fifth stage, from Lille Metropole to Arenberg Porte de Hainaut, which includes 11 cobbled sectors, of infamous and loathed pave, made famous by the spring Classic, Paris-Roubaix. There have been plenty of cobbles in past Tours de France, but recently they have become even more critical in deciding the outcome of the race.

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