If he did not win the Tour de France, he is perhaps the great man of this 109th edition. The Belgian Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), the embodiment of cycling at its most complete, proved it once again on this Grande Boucle. Sometimes leader to seek victory in the sprint, sometimes free spirit to interfere in the breakaways and dynamite the race but always unstoppable alongside its leader, winner at the end of the 21 stages, Jonas Vingegaard.
The opportunity for franceinfo: sport to return, in figures, to this crazy edition of Wout van Aert, the UFO of this Tour de France.
1st
This is Wout van Aert’s first victory in the points classification. The Belgian will bring back the first green jersey in the history of his Jumbo-Visma formation. At the same time, he becomes the 15th rider from the flat country to win this coveted ranking, the first since the legendary Tom Boonen, in 2007.
480
This is the number of points scored by Van Aert in the points classification. A record. He surpassed the old record set for Peter Sagan in 2018 with 477 units. However, he did not beat the biggest gap between the first two in the green jersey, still owned by the Slovak, with 231 units ahead of Alexander Kristoff, against 194 for Van Aert ahead of Jasper Philipsen.
3
This is the number of times Wout van Aert raised his arms during this 109th edition. He won as a puncher in Calais (4th stage), then as a sprinter in Lausanne (8th stage) before becoming this great roller again, in the Rocamadour time trial (20th stage).
6
This is the number of breakaways from the Belgian on the roads of the Tour de France. If he hadn’t caught the morning breakaway in Calais, he ended up alone until the finish line. At Longwy, with the yellow jersey on his shoulders, he had chained the attacks before appearing at the front and being caught 11 kilometers from the finish. During the 9th stage which arrived in Châtel, he was also in the right breakaway. In the 11th act, in the direction of Granon, he had again taken to their heels. In the direction of Foix, for the 16th stage, he was in the good breakaway during the 18th stage before putting on a real show in the service of his leader Vingegaard in the rise of Hautacam.
9
This is the number of victories that Wout van Aert now has in the Tour de France. He began his great story on the Grande Boucle in 2019 with a success in Albi, to which he added two more the following year. In 2021, his three successes on three different profiles marked, just like in 2022 with three other bouquets, there too, in various styles.
19
This is the number of podiums achieved by Wout van Aert in four consecutive participations in the Tour de France. First there were three in 2019, then four in 2020 and four again the following year. But it was this year that Van Aert lived the‘apotheosis with no less than eight places in the top three of each stage. In 21 days of racing…