Cycling: Wout van Aert also won the seventh stage of the Tour de France. Peter Sagan was unlucky in the final sprint, but can still be happy about the green jersey. Bora – hansgrohe turned the race upside down right from the start with a team attack.
Sagan reclaims the green jersey
As if the sports directors from Bora – hansgrohe had read our preliminary report on today's stage. With the headlines "Bennett becomes a serious threat to Sagan" and "Bennett makes Sagan sweat", the tenor was clear. But now the German racing team from Raubling has fought back. The 168,0 kilometer stage from Millau to Lavaur was tackled on undulating terrain with a full team strength so quickly that the field fell apart completely. This made it possible to distance numerous sprinters - especially those Sam Bennett (Deceuninck - Quick Step). So could himself Peter Sagan (Bora – hansgrohe) in the intermediate sprint with 110,0 kilometers to go in second place Matteo Trentin (CCC) secured some points while the man in the green jersey went away empty-handed. The three-time world champion has conjured up a 12-point lead from a 5-point deficit – with the help of his strong team.
Wind edge ensures further selection
Even after the intermediate sprint, Bora – hansgrohe didn't give up. The gap to the group Sam Bennett was already more than a minute. So the sports management of the German team decided to follow the pace dictate to the finish line. The groups behind recognized their hopeless endeavor and gave up the pursuit. Attacked just in time for the second mountain classification thomas degendt (Lotto – Soudal) and continued to pull through even after collecting the points. However, 34 kilometers from the finish his solo advance was over. Ineos took control to captain Egan Bernal to protect. The already decimated peloton promptly tore into several parts. Among other things Richie porte (Trek - Segafredo), Tadej pogacar (UAE) and Mikel Landa (Bahrain – McLaren) were not vigilant enough and missed the post. co-leader Richard Carapaz (Ineos) suffered a puncture and also fell back.
Van Aert WINS ahead of Boasson Hagen
The pace in the first group didn't slow down, of course. Almost all the professionals and teams still there had an interest in increasing the gaps towards the back. The sprint for the day's victory finally decided again wout van aert (Jumbo – Visma) before Edvald Boasson Hagen (NTT) for himself. Peter Sagan (Bora - hansgrohe) had to perform an evasive maneuver in the sprint and was therefore unable to complete the great preliminary work of his teammates. He now only has a lead of 9 points Sam Bennett. Nevertheless, the three-time world champion is now wearing the green jersey again. The group around Tadej pogacar lost over a minute.
Wout Van Aert pakt zijn two ritzege! pic.twitter.com/DsBHYoukTv
— Sporza 🚴 (@sporza_koers) September 4, 2020