After three weeks of watching Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) brush off every single attack levied in his direction, Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) could have been forgiven for feeling a bit of self-doubt heading into the final stage of the Tour de France. If nobody could hang with the best rider in the world at any point in the past 20 days, why would the 21st stage be any different?
Fortunately for those who tuned in to see the Tour's dramatic, rain-soaked finale on Sunday, Van Aert did not give up hope. On the third and final trip up the rain-slicked Butte Montmartre, Van Aert followed Pogačar's initial surge and then, defying expectations, he put in a huge dig of his own. For the first time all Tour, Pogačar could not follow a rival's attack.
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