Second place on the climbing stage into Caerphilly secured Wout van Aert his second overall title in the Tour of Britain. Compared with his 2021 victory, however, this was far from straightforward although his fine form had been clear from day one.
Through the hills of south Wales, Ineos’s Spanish starlet Carlos Rodríguez, the eventual stage winner, formed an impromptu alliance with local rider Steve Williams to push Van Aert to the edge, in the first of the eight stages where the Belgian’s Jumbo-Visma team were unable to exert any real grip on proceedings.
