Paris (AFP)
A school sprint mastered by Wout van Aert concluded the Tour de France on Sunday on the Champs-Elysées, where the Belgian champion won his third success since the start.
The day after his victorious time trial in Saint-Emilion, van Aert (Jumbo) deprived Mark Cavendish of the 35th stage success, a record that the Briton coveted.
"I feel tired but I don't think Cavendish is unbeatable", warned the Belgian before the start of the 108.4 kilometers in Chatou (Yvelines).
Proof of this was given less than three hours later when Cavendish, winner of four massive sprints, did not have his usual + pitcher +, the Dane Michael Morkov, to take him the sprint.
In the wheel of his Dutch teammate Mike Teunissen, van Aert drove a powerful but straight sprint, never opening the corridor along the barriers.
Cavendish, in his wake, crossed the line in third position, also ahead of Belgian Jasper Philipsen.
After three participations, van Aert (26) now has six stages to his credit.
He won above all this year on very different terrains: a mountain stage (the Ventoux twice), a time trial (Saint-Emilion), a massive sprint (Paris).
"The Champs-Elysées is history. I had this objective of winning here once in my career", relished the Belgian who welcomed the displacement of the finish line 300 meters higher in order to have a longer final straight line.
"We have more space to place ourselves".
Winner of two classics in the spring (Gand-Wevelgem, Amstel Gold Race), van Aert had his approach to the Tour thwarted by a surgical intervention (appendix) in the spring.
But he collected his best record, all the more impressive as the Belgian has repeatedly devoted himself to the Dane Jonas Vingegaard (2nd in the Tour).
For him, the next meeting is set for the Tokyo Olympics where he will take part in both the road race next Saturday and the time trial four days later.
"I know it will be difficult but I will try to win both," van Aert said on Sunday evening before leaving for a plane to Japan.
© 2021 AFP