Wout Van Aert regained the lead from the Dauphiné in the 169-kilometre stage ending in Chastreix-Sancy. Although he will wear yellow again in tomorrow’s time trial, the Belgian Jumbo Visma cyclist made headlines this Tuesday for an oversight that cost him the stage.
The beneficiary of his overconfidence in the sprint was David Gaudu. The French Groupama rider took advantage of the fact that Van Aert raised his arms in victory before crossing the finish line to win the third stage of the French race. An oversight that in the world of sport is reminiscent of Aleix Espargaró at the Catalan Grand Prix last weekend.
Van Aert instantly realized the mistake he had made. “I feel embarrassed because we worked hard all day with the team, and in the end I lost because of me, so I have no words. I saw that the Cofidis rider on my left was overtaken, so I thought it was good, but I didn’t see progress to David Gaudu, who accelerated very hard to my right”, he explained at the finish line.
After the disappointment, Van Aert is already thinking about this Wednesday’s time trial, in which he will start as one of the favorites. “The time trial is here, and I know I can do well. Today the stage was difficult because we had to catch the breakaway, so we worked hard. I hope that tomorrow it doesn’t take its toll on us and that I have a chance to win,” he added.
Gaudu also detailed how he experienced that victory competed for by several sprint cyclists. “I was a bit far down the stretch and I thought I couldn’t make it, but Kevin Geniets came along and I followed his wheel. I felt he had strength, I saw Van Aert start well, but I said: I’m going to eat him. And I finally made it.”
An important victory for Gaudu, highly anticipated since the beginning of the season. “I’m excited. The doubts have been left behind after all the problems I had at the beginning of the year. The legs responded well on the climb, which is good for the future and especially for this weekend”, concluded the winner, with a time of 4h.09.38, at an average of 40.6 km/hour.
In the general classification, Van Aert has an advantage of 6 seconds over Gaudu and 12 over fellow Frenchman Victor Lafay (Cofidis). Wednesday’s individual time trial will be 31.9 kilometers between Montbrison and La Batie d’Urfé.
