Wout van Aert delivers Tour masterclass on double ascent of Mont Ventoux

Wout van Aert triggered memories of five-time Tour de France winner, Eddy Merckx, with a spectacular solo victory in the 2021 Tour’s daunting Mont Ventoux stage, reminiscent of the Belgian legend’s lone victory in 1970.

“I’m lost for words,” the Belgian national champion said. “It’s one of the most iconic climbs in world cycling. Maybe this is my best win yet.”

Related: Tour de France: Wout van Aert wins stage 11 after double ascent of Mont Ventoux – as it happened

Van Aert left the remnants of the day’s breakaway behind long before reaching the summit for a second time, but as he climbed ahead, the first chinks in race leader Tadej Pogacar’s armoury appeared when he was unable to respond to an attack from Van Aert’s Jumbo-Visma teammate, Jonas Vingegaard.

Although the 24-year-old Dane was unable to press home any advantage on the long descent towards the finish, the impression of Pogacar as irresistible on the Tour’s steepest gradients was at least dented.

As the UAE Emirates team leader gave chase on the fast descent, he was aided by his closest remaining rivals, Richard Carapaz, of Ineos Grenadiers and EF Education Nippo leader, Rigoberto Uran.

With temperatures in the plain nudging 30 degrees Celsius, but overcast and fresh conditions on the approach to the Ventoux’s exposed summit, the furnace conditions that have made the Giant of Provence both fearsome, and in the case of Tom Simpson who collapsed and died on the climb in 1967 Tour, tragic, did not materialise.

But it was a chastening stage for those struggling to recover from their efforts in last weekend’s Alpine stages with Ben O’Connor of Australia, second overall at the start, unable to keep pace with Pogacar and the other overall contenders, and ceding his position to Uran.