Words Joseph Delves Photos Pete Goding
A second stage win for Wout van Aert. In a fine example of the recently popular uphill-GC-bunch-sprint-plus genre, the guy in green nabbed the win ahead of Michael Matthews and the guy in yellow, Tadej Pogačar.
Stage 8 from Dole to Lausanne followed a hard day on La Planche des Belles Filles.
Providing a slow start, this gave Fred Wright, Frederik Frison, and Mattia Cattaneo the freedom to flog themselves in the breakaway.
Eventually finding himself alone, Wright gave British fans a reason to yell at their TVs as the Londoner held off the peloton until well into the final climb.
Once he was caught, the only question was whether it would be a Wout day or a Tadej day. Instantly identifiable towards the front in their respective leader’s jerseys, neither seemed to be finding things too taxing. In the end, only Matthews was game enough to insert himself between the two.
Having won in yellow, Wout has now won in green. At the same time, Pogačar takes more bonus time on his GC rivals. See how it played out through the lens of Pete Goding.
The jerseys on the wearers they’d begin and end the day on.
Thibaut Pinot had a tough day, first crashing, then getting smacked in the face by a musette.
Frederik Frison, Fred Wright, and Mattia Cattaneo couldn’t tempt any other riders to join the break.
The breakaway settled in for a long stint off the front.
Jumbo-Visma chaperone the man in green.
In the breakaway Frison was the first to crack.
A helicopter hovers ahead of the chasing bunch.
Come the finish only Michael Matthews could get between Wout and Tadej.
Wout pulls ahead in green.
And Tadej gets an even firmer grip on yellow.
For all our coverage, head to our Tour de France hub