“Winning is always nice, especially in a hard race like this,” Van Aert said afterwards. “It was a difficult start, even today. Mentally it was hard as well. Bruno Armirail and the other boys did an impressive job bringing me to the finish line, and I have to thank them for that.”

From the start, the riders kept the race under control. Several teams tried to place riders in the early breakaway, but thanks to the alert work of Team Visma | Lease a Bike and other teams, the gap remained manageable. The team rode attentively at the front of the peloton throughout the day.

In the hectic finale, the team remained well organised. With only a few kilometers remaining, van Aert was expertly delivered to the front of the peloton. When the sprint was launched, the Belgian never hesitated. With a powerful acceleration, he completed the groundwork laid by his teammates.

For Van Aert, the victory is an important confidence boost. At the same time, the stage win underlines the collective strength of Team Visma | Lease a Bike, which had already impressed earlier in the race with victory in the team time trial and once again demonstrated its ability to compete on multiple fronts.

“The sprints have been going really well all year, so I had confidence going into it,” Van Aert said afterwards. “But sometimes it's a question of whether you can control the race and have the opportunity to sprint. Fortunately, that was the case today,” he concluded.