Stage 11 of the Tour de France was a big day for Jumbo-Visma, who claimed the race lead with Jonas Vingegaard, but the day was even bigger for one lucky spectator on the roadside of the Col du Granon.
Wout van Aert was coming back down the Col du Granon from the finish of stage 11 of the Tour de France after the podium ceremony for the points classification – which he leads by a huge margin – and realized he had a slow leak in his tyre and no Jumbo-Visma mechanic in sight.
The Belgian stopped during the descent to his team bus and some cyclists quickly offered up a frame pump so Van Aert could add some air to his tubeless tyre.
In thanks, Van Aert gave one cyclist the green jersey off his back – literally telling him to un-zip the back of the podium version of the green jersey and have it as a souvenir.
The moment was captured by Italian journalist and cyclist Michele Pelacci who is riding in the Alps with his brother and watching the Tour from the roadside. He works for a number of Italian media including the Alvento magazine and the official Giro d’Italia podcast called GIROglifici.
He admitted he wasn’t quick enough to get van Aert’s green jersey but captured the moment and shared photographs on Twitter.
“My brother punctured and we stopped at the side of the road to change the inner tube. Guess who stopped after five minutes? Wout van Aert,” Pelacci wrote on Twitter.
“I said: Hey Wout, there’s liquid coming out of your wheel. He looked at me stupidly and explaibed it was tubeless. He asked for a pump and an English guy offered him one. Wout told him: ‘You’re a hero’ and said: ‘I’ve got something for you, take the green jersey off my back, it’s yours’
“What did I learn from it all? Be the first to pass a pump to Wout van Aert because in exchange he could give you a special souvenir in exchange.”
Pro cycling is unique in how close fans can get to the riders and spectators clamour for discarded bidons. But to receive such a valuable keepsake is hors-categorie.
Van Aert was likely in a generous mood because of his…
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