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Wout van Aert
Photo: Thibault Camus/AP
Wout van Aert has won stage 8 of the 2022 Tour de France.
The Belgian prevailed after 186 kilometers from Dole to Lausanne, Switzerland.
Tadej Pogačar also kept his yellow jersey on the bumpy stage with two climbs in the third and fourth categories.
There were two more failures in the field to complain about even before the start: Geoffrey Bouchard and Vegard Stake Laengen both tested positive for the corona virus and had to leave the tour.
After two kilometers of the stage, the first attempts to break away began, but a group of three consisting of Mattaneo Cattaneo, Fred Wright and Frederik Frison was able to break away.
The trio benefited from a mass crash in the peloton, which also involved numerous top riders, including those wearing the yellow jersey.
Pogačar's team braked until the captain caught up.
With just under 62 kilometers to go, Frison gave out and Cattaneo and Wright were now on their own.
The field allowed the two to drive in a controlled manner, and the lead did not increase to more than two minutes from then on.
With 17 kilometers to go, the two still had a 60-second lead, and entering the crucial climb five kilometers from the finish, Wright, as the solo leader, saved another 20 seconds.
1500 meters later the Brit's hopes of winning a stage were over - the field flew past him.
Shortly before the finish, things got spectacular: after a 12-percent incline over a kilometer, the sprint decision was made, with van Aert crossing the finish line first.
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