'This is really difficult' - Van Aert reflects on his greatest Tour stage wins
The Belgian star now has ten Tour de France stage wins to his name after winning the recent Montmartre stage in Paris, and reflected on some of his best successes in the race.
Wout van Aert (Vimsa | Lease a Bike) has had several stunning victories at the Tour de France in his career so far, and he struggled to decide on which was his favourite in a social segment with Sporza.
After three years without victory on the Tour, Van Aert delivered a special performance in the new classics-style stage 21, distancing the yellow jersey Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) on the slopes of the Montmartre climb before soloing to victory in a rain-soaked Paris, his tenth stage win at the Tour de France.
Van Aert was asked by Sporza to rank his top five victories at the Tour, from a pre-selection that included his recent Montmartre triumph.
"This is really difficult," Van Aert said. "I would rather not choose," he added, highlighting the significance each success holds for him.
However, he eventually concluded that his victory at the 2022 Tour de France in Calais on stage 4 slightly stood out above the others with the honour of winning in the yellow jersey. He couldn't split the other victories, and they all tied for second in his list.
Van Aert has now started the last three grand tours and won at least one stage in all of them, illustrating his ability and determination after countless setbacks over the last few seasons. Here is a look at the five Tour stages that Van Aert was asked to rank from.
2019 Stage 10 - Sprint success on Tour debut
Van Aert was already an established star in the cyclocross universe, having claimed three consecutive elite world titles after going toe-to-toe with Mathieu van der Poel for nearly a decade.
2019 was Van Aert's first season at Jumbo-Visma (Now - Visma | Lease a Bike), having shone in his debut full road season at Vérandas Willems-Crelan the year before. We had seen plenty of glimpses of the Belgian's capabilities on the road, as well as his versatility.
The Critérium du Dauphiné illustrated the fine form of the Belgian, who won a time trial, a sprint stage and the points classification, getting the better of one of the world's best in Sam Bennett.
His debut Tour started excellently on home soil in Brussels with a surprise stage win for teammate Mike Teunissen on the opening stage, followed by a Jumbo-Visma victory in the team time trial on stage 2.
Van Aert sprinted to second in a reduced group sprint on stage 5 behind Peter Sagan, showing his potential for a stage victory, and the Belgian delivered on these promises, winning stage 10 to Albi, having navigated the crosswind chaos, kick-starting the Tour de France career of one of the modern greats. Van Aert's debut Tour ended with disappointment, however, as he crashed and abandoned the race during the individual time trial a few days later.
2021 Stage 11 - Belgian champion conquers mighty Mont Ventoux
Speaking of the versatility of Van Aert, the 2021 Tour stands out as a particularly special edition. Having recently been crowned the Belgian road race champion, Van Aert arrived at the Tour in the Belgian tricolour, also fresh off the back of winning the Amstel Gold Race.
Jumbo-Visma were looking to banish the ghosts of the 2020 Tour, where the race was snatched from them and Primož Roglič on stage 20 by a certain Tadej Pogačar. Roglič suffered more hardship abandoning the race before the first rest day, but despite the team's disappointment, Van Aert rose to the fore.
Stage 11 featured a brutal double ascent of the mighty Mont Ventoux, and Van Aert not only made the day's breakaway but proved to be the strongest rider of them all, alone at the front of the race at the summit of the second ascent before descending to victory in Malaucène. It was the first of three very different stage wins in the 2021 edition for the Belgian champion, who created more history.
2021 Stage 21 - History maker on Champs-Élysées
Having already claimed victory in a mountain stage, then in the individual time trial on stage 20, Van Aert had the opportunity to join an exclusive club of Eddy Merckx in 1974, and Bernard Hinault in 1979, as riders to have won a time trial, mountain and sprint stage in the same Tour de France.
Van Aert seized the opportunity and sealed his third stage win of the 2021 Tour ahead of Jasper Philipsen and Mark Cavendish, sealing his status as one of the stars of the race, and it was until recently the Belgian's only triumph on the Champs-Élysées.
2022 Stage 4 - Dominant solo win in yellow
This was the victory that Van Aert chose in the Sporza segment as his favourite, and it's easy to understand why.
Having agonisingly finished 2nd in the first three stages, Van Aert's consistency was rewarded with the yellow jersey for the first time in his career.
However, on an innocuous-looking stage 4 into Calais, Van Aert and his team lit the race up on the category 4 Côte du Cap Blanc-Nez, splitting the peloton into pieces, before Van Aert powered solo over the summit and never looked back.
The Belgian star soloed to victory in Calais in the yellow jersey, and it was only the start of what was a majorly successful Tour de France as Jonas Vingegaard dethroned Tadej Pogačar, and Van Aert proved to be a crucial teammate throughout, and he claimed the points classification and two more stage wins in the process.
2025 Stage 21 - Tour de France drought broken with Montmartre epic
Having won at least one stage in his first four appearances at the Tour de France, Van Aert headed into 2025, embarking on a significant drought since his last victory at the race in 2022.
Despite this, Van Aert was on a good streak when it came to the other grand tours, having won three at the Vuelta a España before abandoning, as well as winning the gravel stage at the Giro d'Italia, outsprinting Isaac Del Toro.
Mainly deployed as a support rider for Jonas Vingegaard, the individual opportunities for Van Aert were slim. There were glimpses, including a 2nd place finish on stage 8's uphill drag to Laval behind Jonathan Milan and two more top-five stage finishes from breakaway exploits, but Van Aert's chances were evaporating.
However, the Belgian star pulled out his best performance of the entire race, on a rain-soaked stage into Paris, in what had turned into a classics-style race on the Champs-Élysées. Having made the race-winning move along with his teammate Matteo Jorgenson, Van Aert went clear on the third and final ascent of the Montmartre, powering clear of a spent Pogačar and soloing to victory on the Champs-Élysées, with plenty of time to soak in the moment and celebrate his tenth Tour de France stage win.
