Even when he’s not in his finest form, Wout van Aert still manages to show his class, as he proved at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes on Thursday, when he soared to victory in stage five’s bunch sprint.
The 31-year-old – who crashed in training early last week, started stage one in bandages, and was dropped in stage three’s team time trial – led out the dash in Villars-les-Dombes, and held off Hugo Hofstetter (NSN Cycling) and Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Victorious) to the line.
The victory marked Van Aert‘s first on the road since he won Paris-Roubaix in April. It also dispelled concerns about his shape going into next month’s Tour de France.
“Of course, winning is always nice, especially in a race like this. I’m really happy with this stage win,” he said afterwards.
Asked if he felt his form had improved since the start of the race, Van Aert said: “Probably the shape is not much different now. The last two days were just a bit easier and suited me better with my current form.
“I think it was a difficult start. It was even difficult today, mentally. It’s still painful sometimes after the crash I had just before this race, but the team I had around me, they were chasing the breakaway the whole day. I just had to try.”
After the breakaway stole the spoils on stage four, stage five gave the sprinters one final, flat opportunity before the race enters the mountains.
It was hopeful thinking, then, when a six-rider group escaped minutes after the flag drop in Saint-Chamond, and kicked away on a duo of category-four climbs. The sextet were afforded little time by the chasing peloton; their advantage barely extended beyond two minutes, and after more than four hours out front, they slipped back into the rush of the bunch, which barrelled towards a sprint finale.
Speeds rose up to 70kph as the peloton approached the finish town. Cofidis’s Benjamin Thomas was first through the right-hander that unfurled the 3km finishing straight; his sprinter, Bryan Coquard, got lost in the melee, however, as Visma-Lease a Bike and Netcompany-Ineos, riding for French champion Dorian Godon, jostled at the front.
“Honestly, the sprints were going pretty well already the whole year, and also the last few weeks in training. In the sprint, I was definitely confident I had a good chance,” Van Aert said.
That much was clear when the Belgian was first to kick with 200m to go. Taking the inside line around a slight right bend, he lashed a bike length ahead, and sat up in his saddle in celebration.
“I’m happy with this. I have to keep working now,” he said, with an eye on the fast-approaching Tour.
Stage one winner Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost) continues to lead the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, 12 seconds ahead of Netcompany-Ineos duo Kévin Vauquelin and Oscar Onley.
Results
Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 2026, stage 5: Saint-Chamond > Parc des Oiseaux Villars-les-Dombes (195.8km)
1. Wout van Aert (Bel) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 4:31:59
2. Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) NSN Cycling
3. Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain-Victorious
4. Vito Braet (Bel) Lotto Intermarché
5. Henri-François Renard-Haquin (Fra) Picnic PostNL
6. Dorian Godon (Fra) Netcompany-Ineos
7. Nadav Raisberg (Isr) NSN Cycling
8. Henri Uhlig (Ger) Alpecin-Premier Tech
9. Bryan Coquard (Fra) Cofidis
10. Matteo Trentin (Ita) Tudor Pro Cycling, all at same time
General classifcation after stage 5
1. Alex Beaudin (Fra) EF Education-EasyPost, in 18:07:12
2. Kévin Vauquelin (Fra) Netcompany-Ineos, +12s
3. Oscar Onley (Gbr) Netcompany-Ineos, at same time
4. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, +15s
5. Juan Ayuso (Spa) Lidl-Trek, +47s
6. Matthias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +47s
7. Jørgen Nordhagen (Nor) Visma-Lease a Bike, +50s
8. Carlos Rodríguez (Esp) Netcompany-Ineos, +57s
9. Léo Bisiaux (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, +59s
10. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, +1:00
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