For Van Aert it is already his third stage victory in the Tour de France in his second participation. It is his sixth victory of the season and Team Jumbo-Visma’s seventeenth.

“I am very proud of this victory”, Van Aert said. “I am also proud of how we rode as a team today. It was a very fast stage because Bora immediately went full throttle on the first climb. After that, it never stopped. At the end there was still a lot of chaos and it was very hectic because of the crosswinds. Everyone feared them. The plan was to get Primoz and Tom through the stage without damage and time loss. That worked out well. The team was very strong again. I never expected such a mess and such a battle. Due to the fact that many sprinters were dropped and we were left in front with only a small group, I went for my own chance again. The guys started the sprint quite early and I was able to go along in the slipstream. When Boasson Hagen accelerated, I went along and timed my sprint perfectly. It took a lot of energy, but it was worth it. This is really amazing.”

Teammate Tom Dumoulin ran out of superlatives for his teammate. “This is just unbelievable. Wout rode to protect Primoz all day and to keep him out of danger. He also took a lot of wind. It is unbelievable that he can then still pull such a sprint. I have no words for that. The team was again very good today. We were continuously riding in the first part of the peloton with six riders. The fact that our climbers George and Sepp were still able to do massive pulls at the end says a lot about the strength of this team. We knew where we had to be in the front for the crosswinds and we knew where it was going to split apart. It is great that Wout then finishes it off. This is a very beautiful day. Now on to the Pyrenees.”