Wout van Aert emerges as a surprise winner in Maulacène
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Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) nears the summit of the Mont Ventoux on stage 11 of the 2021 Tour de France as the television helicopter hovers(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
The Mont Ventoux featured twice on stage 11 of the 2021 Tour de France(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Riders suffered in the heat on Mont Ventoux on stage 11 of the 2021 Tour de France(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
The yellow jersey group on the first ascent of Mont Ventoux(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
The first ascent of Mont Ventoux on stage 11 of the 2021 Tour de France(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
In the breakaway during Tour de France stage 11(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) descends from Mont Ventoux on stage 11 of the 2021 Tour de France(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quickstep) went on the attack on stage 11 of the 2021 Tour de France(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Esteban Chaves (Team BikeExchange) goes down Mont Ventoux on stage 11 of the 2021 Tour de France(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Mont Ventoux on stage 11 of the 2021 Tour de France(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Ben O'Connor struggled on the second ascent of Mont Ventoux(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) on the attack with race leader Tadej Pogačar on stage 11 of the 2021 Tour de France(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) attacks race leader Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) on stage 11 of the 2021 Tour de France(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) distanced the race leader on stage 11 of the 2021 Tour de France(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Tadej Pogačar chases over the summit of Mont Ventoux on stage 11 of the 2021 Tour de France(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Race leader Tadej Pogačar chases Vingegaard up Mont Ventoux(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) on the Mont Ventoux(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation)(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Mont Ventoux(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Wout van Aert gets encouragement on the second ascent(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
The gendarmerie ensure the chaos of 2016 was not repeated on Mont Ventoux(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Tadej Pogačar nears the summit of Mont Ventoux on stage 11 of the 2021 Tour de France(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Wout van Aert rides to glory on the Mont Ventoux(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) on the second ascent of Mont Ventoux(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Bauke Mollema and Kenny Elissonde (Trek-Segafredo) on Mont Ventoux(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) with his eyes on the prize(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) en route to victory on stage 11 of the 2021 Tour de France which went over Mont Ventoux twice(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Mont Ventoux(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Spectators on Mont Ventoux(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Podium presentation for the stage winner Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma)(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Celebrating the win, Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma)(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) etched his name into Tour de France history as the winner of the first stage in the race's history to feature double ascents of the feared Mont Ventoux.
The Belgian champion rode away from his breakaway companions on the second ascent and soloed to the win on stage 11 ahead of Trek-Segafredo's Kenny Elissonde and Bauke Mollema.
In the battle for the overall race lead, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) showed only the briefest glimpse of weakness on the second ascent of Ventoux with just over 22 kilometres to go when he let Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) open a gap, which Pogačar nevertheless closed on the descent along with Rigoberto Urán (EF-Nippo) and Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers).
The sheer brutality of the 198.9 kilometre stage from Sorgues to Maulacène further widened the gaps in the general classification. Ben O'Connor (AG2R-Citroën) dropped from second overall to fifth after struggling in the heat on the last climb.
It's no surprise that the dominant young Slovenian heads away from the stage with 5:18 on his next rival, Urán, and it seems that the fight from here will be for the two remaining podium places if Pogačar continues as he has. Vingegaard, Carapaz, and O'Connor are all within 40 seconds of the Colombian.
Mont Ventoux has featured regularly in the Tour de France since its debut in 1951 and has had far more drama in past editions than what unfolded on Wednesday. The stage came off without a hitch with sparser crowds than the last time the race visited the Giant of Provence.
In 2016, high winds forced organisers to move the finish downhill to Chalet Reynaud, pushing the crowds to critical density. Then-race leader Chris Froome was caught up in a crash when a race motorbike was blocked by the crowd. His bike broken, Froome took off on foot until he could get a replacement. Officials would later nullify his time delay because of the drama.
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This year, COVID-19 travel restrictions and a strong presence from the gendarmerie meant there were no such hassles.
For all the pictures from the stage click or swipe through the gallery above.
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