Tour Auvergne‑Rhône‑Alpes stage wins highlight Maxim Van Gils and Wout Van Aert

Belgian Maxim Van Gils captured the sixth mountain stage of the Tour Auvergne‑Rhône‑Alpes, finishing ahead of Norway's Tobias Halland Johannessen after a dramatic 60‑rider escape. The win came 116 days after a severe crash in the Jaén Classic that left him with a fractured shoulder and pelvis; he credited intensive altitude training with Remco Evenepoel in Spain's Sierra Nevada for his return to peak form.

In the fifth stage, fellow Belgian Wout Van Aert rebounded from a period of poor results to win a mass‑sprint finish at Parc des Oiseaux Villars‑les‑Dombes. The victory, his first since his Paris‑Roubaix triumph, was described by Van Aert as a mental lift after a challenging fortnight, with Visma’s team tactics delivering the decisive lead‑out. Both stage wins underscore a strong Belgian presence in the French race.