Barely a week of racing and the Tour de France may have already delivered its verdict.
Apart from the polka dot jersey, which will start to be disputed on Sunday with the alpine stages, the other distinctive jerseys seem to have already been awarded.
The yellow jersey ?
Tadej Pogacar dominates the peloton with a masterful hand.
The white shirt?
We really do not see how he can escape this same Slovenian.
The green jersey?
Who else but Wout Van Aert to steal from him.
Yes, because the Belgian from Jumbo-Visma took a big step this Saturday to get on the podium on the Champs-Elysées with this green shirt on his shoulders.
By winning his second stage of this Tour de France in Lausanne, Van Aert has increased his lead over his pursuers and already seems out of reach of his main competitors.
On the evening of the eighth stage, the puncher-sprinter-climber-roller-hurdler-footballer-shooter-handball player (delete as appropriate) has a 115-point lead over Fabio Jakobsen.
From Longwy to Lausanne
However, the Dutchman of the Quick Step was, at the start of Amsterdam, the favorite to recover this green jersey.
But he, like Jasper Philipsen, Caleb Ewan, Michael Matthews or Dylan Groenewegen, surely already has his mind elsewhere.
The first blow to their head came in Longwy, during the 4th stage of the Tour de France.
Solo winner, Wout Van Aert had put an end to three second places in a row.
“I was tired of taking risks in the sprint.
Better to arrive alone,” he laughed a few minutes after crossing the line.
But, this Saturday, the Jumbo-Visma rider arrived well in the sprint, with the bulk of the peloton, and beat everyone, Michael Matthews and Tadej Pogacar in the lead.
Without any real sprinter being involved.
He therefore took a 50-point lead over all his pursuers.
Two stages targeted
“We said that the stages in Longwy and Lausanne were important for the green jersey, reacted Wout Van Aert at the microphone of France 2, on arrival in Switzerland.
We controlled the stage with the Bike Exchange team.
On the last climb, it was up to me.
I am happy and proud to finish the work of others.
When asked about his ability to sprint uphill, Wout Van Aert admitted that he had struggled:
It doesn't go up too long, I was sometimes at the limit on the steep parts.
The last 300 meters were flatter, I made my effort at this time.
A victory which therefore risks putting an end to the fight for the green jersey.
And even before this success, the main competitors already seemed to have given up.
During the intermediate sprints, while there were a dozen of them fighting for points at the start of the Tour, today they are only three or four.
As if everything was already played.
Unless Van Aert's main opponent is, ultimately, Tadej Pogacar.
Already winner of two stages, the Slovenian risks winning others in the mountains.
And even if he is 136 points behind the Belgian, you never know.
Yellow, white and green on the Champs, that would be great.
Tour de France 2022: Van Aert imperial in Lausanne... Pogacar tried, but finished third... Relive the 8th stage with us
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Tour de France 2022
Tadej Pogacar
Wout van Aert
Cycling
Yellow jersey