The tops / flops of the 11th stage of the Tour de France: Van Aert untouchable, dark Gaudu

TOPS

To discover

• The general classification of the Tour de France

Van Aert teaches the lesson

The Belgian champion demonstrated his immense talent. We had seen him at ease in 2020 when it came to taking Primoz Roglic, his leader, as far as possible in the passes but there, he made a solo number. In the group of sixteen who made up the breakaway of the day, Wout Van Aert smoothed out his effort perfectly. Set back in the first ascent of Ventoux, the Jumbo-Visma rider accelerated in the second and no one could resist him. Untouchable, he thus won

“the most beautiful victory of his career”

and the fourth on the Tour.

Vingegaard put Pogacar in the red

As Van Aert strode to victory, the survivors of the favorites group attacked. Another Jumbo-Visma rider, Jonas Vingegaard accelerated four kilometers from the top of the second ascent of Mont Chauve. Only Tadej Pogacar jumped on his wheel… for a few moments before exploding in his turn. The Slovenian admitted:

“Vingegaard was super strong. I exploded at the end ”

. The Dane, the only striker among the favorites, therefore put the strongman of this Tour in difficulty. A sword in the water in the end as Pogacar took it back on the descent to Malaucène but Jonas Vingegaard made an appointment.

The Trek on the offensive

There were three at the front: Julien Bernard, Bauke Mollema and Kenny Elissonde.

The first worked a lot for the next two, especially between the two climbs of Ventoux to maintain a gap of five minutes.

Mission successful.

Suddenly, Elissonde placed a banderilla at the start of the final climb but the Frenchman fell on a bone: Wout Van Aert.

First alone in pursuit of the Belgian, the Habs were joined by Mollema but the two riders of the Trek never saw the Belgian champion again.

The American team is therefore content with places of honor.

FLOPS

The FDJ and Gaudu in the hard

“The Tour is a real pain for us. We will try to honor the jersey and the team ”

, these words are those of Marc Madiot. The boss of Groupama-FDJ had a difficult day. First of all, he lost a fourth runner in the person of Miles Scotson. Then, he saw David Gaudu explode from the first ascent of Ventoux. Tenth Wednesday morning in the overall standings, the Breton came down to fifteenth row, more than 30 minutes from Pogacar.

Quintana did not have the legs

With his polka dot jersey, we were waiting for the Colombian up front. He tried at the start of the stage, notably with Julian Alaphilippe, but the climber did not have the legs. Quickly caught by the peloton, then left behind, the rider of the Arkéa-Samsic team finished the day in 115th place, 33'10 '' behind Van Aert. Only good note, he keeps his best climber jersey for six small points compared to Wout Van Aert.