©ASO / Charly Lopez

Tour de France: Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) takes yellow

Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) left Sønderborg on Sunday evening wearing the leader’s yellow jersey. His happiness would be complete if the Belgian rider had not accumulated three second places during the first three stages of the Tour in Denmark: “I think I will stop sprinting [laughs]. I think it might be a record, three days in a row 2nd in the Tour de France. This time, it doesn’t make me laugh anymore, to be 2nd three days in a row. Otherwise, it was great this first day in yellow. I am very happy to bring it (the yellow jersey) back to France”.

The Jumbo-Visma rider is seven seconds ahead of Yves Lampaert (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team), winner of the opening time trial on Friday, and fourteen seconds ahead of the two-time winner, Slovenian Tajed Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates).

After a day of rest on Monday, the peloton will contest the 4th stage between Dunkirk and Calais (171.5 km) on Tuesday.

Stages won by:  Yves Lampaert (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team)Fabio Jakobsen (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team), Dylan Groenewegen (Team BikeExchange-Jayco)

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Giro d’Italia Internazionale Femminile: Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo) already in place

After a day of rest on Sunday, the Italian world champion Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo) will start in Cesena on Monday with the leader’s jersey. Third in the prologue on Thursday, she won the second stage and climbed to the top of the general classification. Balsamo is six seconds ahead of Marianne Vos (Team Jumbo-Visma). The Team BikeExchange-Jayco duo, Georgia Baker and Kristen Faulkner, follow by less than fifteen seconds.

Stages won by: Kristen Faulkner (Team BikeExchange-Jayco), Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo), Marianne Vos (Team Jumbo-Visma)

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Lotto Belgium Tour: Skalniak-Sojka the strongest

The 2022 Polish time trial champion Agnieszka Skalniak-Sojka (Poland) won the Lotto Belgium Tour on Thursday. Just 25 and already the winner of Gracia-Orlovà at the beginning of May, the Polish rider benefited from the failure of the general classification leader Ally Wollaston (AG Insurance-NXTG Team) during the second stage to win.

The results: 1. Agnieszka Skalniak-Sojka (Poland), 2. Shari Bossuyt (Belgium), 3. Ally Wollaston (AG Insurance-NXTG Team)…

Stages won by: Agnieszka Skalniak-Sojka (Poland), Ally Wollaston (AG Insurance-NXTG Team), Annemarie Worst (Plantur-Pura).

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Races to come: 

Tour de France 1-24/07 www.letour.fr/fr/

Giro d’Italia Internazionale Femminile 1-10/07 https://www.giroditaliadonne.it

Axion Swiss Bank Gran Premio Città di Lugano 10/07 www.gplugano.ch/