Wout van Aert says his second Tour of Britain stage win is "good for the head" as he heads towards his main goal at the World Championships.
Jumbo-Visma's leader Van Aert put in a huge performance on the brutally steep climb up the Great Orme in Llandudno on the fourth stage of the race, buoyed by the fact that he managed to hold on and beat world champion, Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck - Quick-Step).
The 26-year-old also retook the leader's jersey from British rider Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers), thanks to bonus seconds helped him to take a two second lead into the second half of the tour.
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Speaking after the stage, Olympic silver medallist Van Aert said: "It was a super hard finish especially the first part of the climb was really steep, probably a bit too steep for a guy like me. I knew if I could hang on there I would have my chance.
"It’s nice for the head to take a victory, not only because you beat a guy like Julian [Alaphilippe] in a tight finish like that , but also you’re here at bike races to win , at least I am. So it’s just really nice and I think it’s kind of a special finish here so that just makes me proud."
Van Aert went on to speak about what the team's plan was for the day, saying that they were all in for him to take the stage win despite being a man down after Chris Harper crashed out on stage two.
He also added that his legs feel good enough to go for the overall title, despite being sceptical at the start of the race.
"With only the stage wins there is still 40 bonus seconds coming, so that’s way more than the gap I have now so I need to be ready at every moment of the race. I probably need to do a few sprints because Hayter and I guess Alaphilippe will be my main opponents in GC and are both fast guys so we will see," continued Van Aert.
Van Aert is using the race as a key build-up to the upcoming World Championships, which take place in his home nation of Belgium. It has already been outlined that the entire Belgian team will be working for Van Aert too with Remco Evenepoel making it clear.
The fifth stage of the Tour of Britain starts in Alderley Park and winds its way around Cheshire before finishing in the town of Warrington for a potential bunch sprint, however, the early big climbs could put pay to any sprinters hopes of winning.
