Wout van Aert thought he had lost — but did Jonas Vingegaard’s local knowledge make the difference?

For more than ten minutes, Jensen Plowright believed he had won the second stage of the Tour of Denmark, only for the race jury to deny the Alpecin-Premier Tech rider his first professional victory. After examining the photo finish, officials awarded the win to Wout van Aert. The Belgian had been convinced that he was beaten, but eventually secured his second victory in as many days.

The scenes immediately after the finish appeared to leave little room for doubt: Plowright produced a powerful late sprint, threw his bike towards the line and celebrated confidently. Van Aert dropped his head and accepted defeat, but the photo finish told a different story. The margins were tiny, yet had the Visma | Lease a Bike rider crossed the line first after all? Following a review, the jury decided that he had.

The general-classification leader, who had also won the opening stage, was therefore able to add another victory to his palmarès. The manner of the win, however, was a new experience for him. “I felt that Jensen came past me, but at that moment I couldn’t properly judge whether he had made it just in time or had fallen just short,” Van Aert told Het Laatste Nieuws. “Because he was so certain, I assumed it had already been checked.”

Plowright’s confidence ultimately proved misplaced, which also came as a surprise to Van Aert. “When I arrived here, I had no doubts until they showed me the picture. It wasn’t easy to see the difference in the first image, but once they sharpened it, it turned out that I had been a fraction faster after all. It was certainly a special experience,” he said with a laugh.

Interestingly, this was not the first time Van Aert had been involved in such a controversial finish. At the 2021 Amstel Gold Race, the Belgian fought an exceptionally close battle with Tom Pidcock. Van Aert was declared the winner, although subsequent images of the photo finish appeared to suggest something different. On that occasion, however, the organisers stood by their original decision.

The victory allowed Van Aert to significantly increase his lead in the general classification. Second-placed Lukas Kubis of Unibet Rose Rockets is now fourteen seconds behind. The Belgian’s return to competition after injury could hardly have gone better. “I didn’t expect to win twice immediately,” the 31-year-old from Herentals said. “Things are obviously going very well, so I’m extremely satisfied.”

Could the words of Jonas Vingegaard have played a part? Van Aert’s Danish teammate was present at the start in Glyngøre, which is also his hometown. The two-time Tour de France winner could not participate in the Tour of Denmark after crashing at the Tour de France and breaking his collarbone, but he was still able to give Van Aert some valuable local advice.

Vingegaard knows the roads around Glyngøre better than most. Although many expected the stage to finish in a bunch sprint, the climber warned Van Aert about the technical nature of the finishing circuit. “It is actually very similar to yesterday. Just after the finish, you turn left and there is a small climb. The circuit is simply a little bigger,” Vingegaard explained to Van Aert. Did that information provide the small advantage that ultimately made the difference?