Another big day for Wout van Aert. The Belgian super star continued his commanding run at the Tour of Denmark on Friday. Van Aert took his third consecutive stage dub with another strong performance on the race’s queen stage.

The Team Visma-Lease a Bike rider outkicked a reduced lead group on the uphill finish in Vejle after a long day of 200 km of racing. Slovakia’s Lukas Kubis (Unibet Rose Rockets) finished second, while Visma’s Christophe Laporte completed the podium.

NSN Cycling’s Pier-André Côté of Gaspé, Que. also made the winning move, finishing a very strong seventh, just 14 seconds behind. The 29-year-old former national champ slipped a smidge in the overall. Côté now sits sixth, dropping down from fourth after Stage 2.

Stage 3 of the Tour of Denmark

Already leading the general classification by 14 seconds, Van Aert looked in control throughout a wet and demanding day. The day’s race featured relentless short climbs which meant all kinds of attacks.
An early breakaway of four Danes animated the opening half of the stage before being gradually reeled in. Behind them, a whole bunch of attacks from the peloton failed to create lasting gaps. On the slick roads, there was also a large crash with 81 km left that briefly disrupted the race. None of the overall favourites were seriously affected, although several riders hit the pavement. There were a bunch of DNFs, as a result.

Visma-Lease a Bike took charge on the finishing circuits around Vejle. The Dutch team steadily ramped up the pace on the steep but short climbs. That shrunk the front group fast

Van Aert even survived a tense moment when teammate Toronto’s Ashlin Barry, a Canadian/U.S. dual citizen, crashed on a wet corner, forcing the teenage phenom onto the roadside before he safely remounted. Van Aert did a wee bit of ‘cross and rode on the grass before rejoining the field. Barry would still finish the race thankfully, in 81st.

Van Aert’s move

The decisive move came on the final uphill run to the line. Van Aert did what he does and launched his sprint with around 800 m to go. Kubis was briefly with him, but the Belgian did what he does and put another gear to pull clear and secure a third straight victory. (Yesterday was a doozy too, as at first he was second, then the result was reversed.)

Stage 4 of the Tour of Denmark goes from Rudkøbing to Faaborg for a total of 172.6 km. The five-day stage race wraps up on Sunday.