2022 Tour de France Stage 4 | Highlights

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Wout van Aert has won the fourth stage of the Tour de France in spectacular fashion. The rider was fired like a rocket by his teammates on the last slope of the day and finished the job with a powerful solo ride in the final ten kilometers. Van Aert finally got his win after three second places in a row.

In the more than 170 kilometer stage, spectacle took some time to arrive. Finally, with twelve kilometers to go, the Jumbo-Visma team opened the burners to ignite the race.

“It was a planned action”, Nathan Van Hooydonck describes the team’s explosion of strength. “We study the Tour course every year down to the last detail. We knew we could do a few things today.” The Belgian shook the tree on the climb, with his compatriots Tiesj Benoot and Van Aert in the wheel. After the strong efforts of Van Hooydonck and Benoot, it was up to Van Aert to finish the fight.

And the leader of the general classification did so with verve. “The team management told over the radio that our leaders were among the competition,” van Aert refers to the position of his teammates Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard. “That was an excellent opportunity for me to go for the stage victory. We had circled this stage in the battle for the green, because it was perhaps too difficult for the real sprinters while there were fifty points to be earned. I had to go over the limit with my effort and it was ten kilometers of fighting, but the result is impressive.”

On the line in Calais, the unleashed Van Aert was finally allowed to celebrate, his sixth victory gesture of the season. “The yellow jersey gives me wings. This is certainly one of the most beautiful victories of my career. Winning in the yellow jersey is very special. Fortunately, I can start again tomorrow in this beautiful shirt. We accomplished impressive things as a team today. This was a perfect day for our team.”

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