On stage four of this year’s Tour de France, Wout Van Aert landed a sensational victory in an early show of strength by his Jumbo-Visma team.
As the race crested the final hill before the run into the finish in Calais, Jumbo-Visma ignited the race at the front of the peloton. Van Aert, clad in the yellow jersey of the race leader, then launched a stinging attack, powering away from Adam Yates (Ineos-Grenadiers) and his rivals on the way to a stunning victory.
Van Aert sailed across the finish line with his arms outstretched celebrating an impressive victory.
Tim Godden- a Devon based artist, has captured the moment in an art print. Out in France on the road side for stages four and five, Godden, along with his father and four year old son Fernley, were lucky enough to be present on the day Van Aert secured such a memorable win.
Godden's day to day work highlights people's personal connections to history and in particular, the First World War.
He said: “Like a number of others in the peloton, he's just such a great rider to watch. I think we're really blessed as cycling fans at the moment with an incredibly charismatic peloton who embrace the engagement. But on top of all that, Wout seems like a genuinely nice guy as well - the encounter with some British fans on the way back down Col du Granon after stage 11 was a perfect example of his kind nature.”
(Image credit: Mark Godden)
"Being there for the two stages in Northern France was just magical. We managed to see the race twice during stage four, once in Cassel and again at the finish in Calais. The crowds were incredible and so friendly. Despite how long my dad and I have been watching on TV, it was the first time we'd seen the Tour live in France.
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"Fernley, loves Wout Van Aert so he was bouncing with joy as we watched him win in Calais. We were right at the finish line and it was a really special moment to see the Maillot Jaune win the first stage finish we'd ever been to."
(Image credit: Tim Godden)
On stage five, the race crashed over the cobbles of Paris Roubaix, and to celebrate the Tour’s return to the cobbles, Godden produced a memorable print of Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) racing over the cobbles. Earlier in the year, van der Poel had tasted victory again at the Tour of Flanders but sadly wasn’t in the action during the opening week.
On the cobbled stage madness, Tim said: “Stage five, the cobbled stage, was something else. It was utter madness the whole time. It was such a privilege being able to witness the mayhem by the roadside. The only downside of seeing the tour live, of course, is coming home and having to watch it wend its way around France and not being there. Still, wonderful memories that I know we will all keep with us forever.”
After previously working in higher education, Tom joined Cycling Weekly in 2022 and hasn't looked back. He's been covering professional cycling ever since; reporting on the ground from some of the sport's biggest races and events, including the Tour de France, Paris-Roubaix and the World Championships. His earliest memory of a bike race is watching the Tour on holiday in the early 2000's in the south of France - he even made it on to the podium in Pau afterwards. His favourite place that cycling has taken him is Montréal in Canada.
