There is no two without three for Wout van Aert at the PostNord Tour of Denmark 2026. With a decisive attack on the final climb towards the finish line in Vejle (the stage town of the queen stage of the Danish race), the Belgian from Visma Lease a Bike left all the competition behind for the third consecutive day, achieving a hat-trick that once again confirms his excellent form.

Behind the increasingly dominant general classification leader (who reached his 56th professional victory today) came the ever-strong Lukáš Kubiš (second in the standings, 20 seconds behind the champion from Herentals) and his teammate Christophe Laporte, third in the classification, 30 seconds behind his captain and decisive today in making the race even harder and more selective in the final.

THE RACE

Leaving Fredericia in a distinctly Nordic climate, the stage was characterized from the start by a series of attacks and counterattacks that, after about twenty kilometers of furious racing, resulted in the breakaway of Sylvester Vittinghus Stokbro (AIRTOX - Carl Ras), Andreas Stokbro (Team ColoQuick), Aksel Bech Skot-Hansen (Give Steel) and Boas Lysgaard (BHS - PL Beton Bornholm).

The four, controlled at a distance by Team Visma Lease a Bike and Lidl-Trek, proceeded compactly, tackling with good momentum the two laps around the Tingkærvej climb (won on both passages by Lysgaard) and the first lap of the circuit centered on the Søvej ascent, after which, 69 kilometers from the finish, Stokbro decided to leave the group and attempt a solo adventure.

Behind, meanwhile, under increasingly heavy rain, the peloton did not experience this transitional phase of the stage in absolute calm: among unsuccessful breakaway attempts (including attacks by Casper Pedersen and Theodor Clemmensen for the Danish national team, Aslin Barry and Menno Huising for Visma Lease a Bike, Tomáš Kopecký and Niklas Larsen for Unibet Rose Rockets, Matias Malmberg for Swatt Club, Storm Ingebrigtsen for Uno-X Mobility and Fran Muñoz for Polti VisitMalta) and crashes (notably one involving a dozen riders at kilometer 81), the peloton progressively lost strength and riders, reducing to about sixty units that, less than 60 kilometers from the finish, reabsorbed all the early breakaway riders except the steadfast Stokbro.

Catching up with him, increasingly tired and within reach of the chasers, 47 kilometers from the finish came William Blume Levy (Uno-X Mobility), Matyas Kopecký (Unibet Rose Rockets) and Marcus Sander Hansen (BHS - PL Beton Bornholm) who, after successfully escaping the peloton, formed a new quartet at the front. On their heels immediately came Visma Lease a Bike with van Aert (forced five kilometers earlier to make a quick bike change and an equally rapid return to the group) who, with his team's work at the front, ensured that the quartet approached the three laps of the final 9.7-kilometer circuit in Vejle with no more than twenty seconds of advantage.

The inevitable regrouping took place, thanks to the work of the "yellow hornets," on the climb leading to the finish line for the second time: here, 19 kilometers from the finish, thanks to the superb effort of Christophe Laporte, thirteen riders remained in front including the blue jersey of the general classification leader, who two kilometers later forced the pace again, remaining with only Lukáš Kubiš (Unibet Rose Rockets). On the first two in the standings, however, came back first, 13 kilometers from the finish, Laporte, Riley Sheehan (NSN), Henrik Pedersen and Alexander Kamp (Uno-X Mobility) and then, two kilometers later, all the other members of the leading group.

Eleven riders thus approached the final lap where, despite the numerical superiority, Unibet and Uno-X (each with three men) did not attempt to attack the race leader who, after maintaining a high pace for a long time, on the hard final climb towards the finish raised his cadence, managing to drop all his rivals one by one. The last to resist him was an indomitable Kubiš who, however, could do nothing against the higher pedaling frequency of the native of Herentals, who in the final meters managed to keep him at a safe distance before raising his arms to the sky for the third consecutive day.

To be updated.

FINISHING ORDER

1. Wout van Aert (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) 4:55:17

2. Lukáš Kubiš (Unibet Rose Rockets) +0:02

3. Christophe Laporte (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) +0:04

4. Henrik Pedersen (Uno-X Mobility) +0:04

5. Søren Kragh Andersen (Lidl-Trek) +0:08

6. Pier-André Côté (NSN Cycling Team) +0:12

7. Francisco Muñoz (Team Polti VisitMalta) +0:14

8. Tomáš Kopecký (Unibet Rose Rockets) +0:15

9. Matyas Kopecký (Unibet Rose Rockets) +0:21

10. Alexander Kamp (Uno-X Mobility) +0:26

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1. Wout van Aert (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) 13:05:17

2. Lukáš Kubiš (Unibet Rose Rockets) +0:20

3. Christophe Laporte (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) +0:30

4. Henrik Pedersen (Uno-X Mobility) +0:30

5. Søren Kragh Andersen (Lidl-Trek) +0:38

6. Pier-André Côté (NSN Cycling Team) +0:44

7. Tomáš Kopecký (Unibet Rose Rockets) +0:45

8. Francisco Muñoz (Team Polti VisitMalta) +0:59

9. Matyas Kopecký (Unibet Rose Rockets) +1:05

10. Alexander Kamp (Uno-X Mobility) +1:13

OTHER CLASSIFICATIONS

Points Classification: Wout van Aert (Team Visma | Lease a Bike)

Mountain Classification: Aksel Bech Skot-Hansen (Give Steel)

Best Young Rider Classification: Henrik Pedersen (Uno-X Mobility)