Tour de France 2022: Wout van Aert called ‘a freak of nature’ after stunning Stage 8 win in Lausanne

Wout van Aert (Jumbo–Visma) has been described as “a freak of nature” by Robbie McEwen after the Belgian superstar collected a second stage win at the 2022 Tour de France.

Belgium’s Van Aert clung on in a select lead group on the final 4.5km climb to the finish before timing his sprint to perfection to come round Australia’s Matthews and the Slovenian race leader.

However, it was Belgian superstar Van Aert who produced a statement performance in Lausanne.

Chennaoui hosting the post-race Breakaway called Van Aert “a beast”, with McEwen, Blythe and Lloyd all wowed by his latest show of power.

“He is a beast,” said McEwen. “He’s a freak of nature, a phenomenon.”

Blythe said Van Aert just had too much power for the rest of the field as he added Stage 8 to his Stage 4 success earlier in the Tour.

“It was like a track sprint,” he said. “A slow speed but you can just see how much more power he has than anyone else. Everyone was sort of holding on to what they had, but you can see how much fresher [Van Aert] is than anyone else. What he’s doing is just incredible.”

Lloyd joked that The Breakaway team had little to analyse of Stage 8 due to Van Aert’s sheer dominance.

“He has been incredible,” said Lloyd. “Our job is to explain what happened, the answer: Wout van Aert.”

The Tour continues on Sunday with a scenic day in the Swiss Alps – the 193km Stage 9 which starts in Aigle and tackles two Cat.1 climbs before returning to French soil ahead of another punchy uphill finish at Chatel Les Portes du Soleil.

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