Wout van Aert wins Tour of Denmark opener in return from elbow infection
The Belgian won a reduced sprint in Aalborg on Wednesday after recovering from a bacterial infection that kept him out of the Tour de France.
Van Aert's instant impact
Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) won stage one of the Tour of Denmark on Wednesday, his first day of racing since mid-June. The Belgian sprinter had been sidelined by a bacterial infection in his right elbow, which forced him to abandon the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes on 11 June and miss the Tour de France. The 197.2-kilometre stage started and finished in Aalborg and featured a flat profile except for a final circuit with a 700-metre climb at 6% taken twice.
How the finale unfolded
The early breakaway consisted of five riders: Daniel Stampe, Mads Landbo, Marius Hobolth, Matias Malmberg and Manuel Oioli. The quintet was reeled in with 72 kilometres remaining, just before a mass crash split the peloton and brought down around 40 riders, including Van Aert. Malmberg, Mads Andersen and Sebastian Nielsen then formed a leading trio caught at the ten-kilometre mark. A group of eight attacked with five kilometres to go, featuring Christophe Laporte, Lukáš Kubiš, Henrik Pedersen, Tim Torn Teutenberg, Pier-André Côté, Tomáš Kopecký and others.
The final attack
Van Aert bridged across to the leaders on the last climb, carrying Søren Kragh Andersen on his wheel. Laporte, his French teammate, led him out for the sprint, and Van Aert finished ahead of Lukáš Kubiš and Henrik Pedersen. The victory, his 54th career win at age 31, gave him the first leader's jersey of the 36th edition of the race.
Next stages
The Tour of Denmark continues Thursday with a lightly undulating 182.9-kilometre stage from Glyngore to Skive. The race concludes on Sunday, when a successor to last year's winner Mads Pedersen will be crowned. Arnaud De Lie won in 2024, Remco Evenepoel in 2021, and Van Aert himself in 2018.
Van Aert's season so far
Wednesday's win is Van Aert's third of the season. He previously won Paris-Roubaix and a stage of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes before his injury. The comeback ride in Denmark marks the resumption of a campaign interrupted for over six weeks.
