The Slovenian cyclist Tadej Pogačar, who won both 2020 and 2021, sprinted away at the end and took his first stage victory Tour de France this year.
The 23-year-old now leads the Tour de France by four seconds even ahead of the American cyclist Neilson Powless.
- Every time I win, it's even better, said Tadej Pogačar in TV comments.
"Super hard and hectic"
- It was super hard in the last climb and hectic and all.
I guess I had good legs to push to at the end.
Belgian Wout Van Aert led the way into the impressive final stage of almost 220 kilometers through Belgium and northern France, but was beaten with eleven kilometers left to the finish.
Van Aert jumped off the last part of the stage and eventually lost by more than seven minutes.
Pogačar said he believed Van Aert could take the win on his own, praising his team for a "fantastic job" in getting him in good shape for the pre-stage competition for the Côte des Religieuses.
Tones down the meaning
It is the earliest stage that the cyclist has taken the lead on after leading the 20th stage in 2020 and the eighth stage last year.
But Pogačar downplayed the importance of wearing the yellow jersey relatively early in the competition.
- I'm very happy to win.
Everything else is just a bonus.
The win was the seventh in Pogačar's career in the competition, and the tenth in a Grand Tour, and came before both the Frenchman David Gaudu and the Australian Michael Matthews.