The Belgian Jumbo-Visma cyclist sprinted to the end of the race in 4 hours 13min 6sec, which was just enough to beat Australia's Michael Matthews of Team BikeExchange-Jayco to the finish.

UAE Team Emirates rider Pogačar of Slovenia, who crashed early in the peloton, secured the final podium spot to establish a 39-second overall lead over Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard, Van Aert's team-mate.

Britain's Geraint Thomas of Ineos Grenadiers is third in the overall rankings, but has a deficit of 1min 14sec to make ground on.

Denmark's Andreas Kron and Italy's Alberto Bettiol finished fourth and fifth on the stage respectively.

Stage eight covered 186.3 kilometres as riders raced from Dole in France to the Swiss city of Lausanne.

The day could have ended different as Britain's Fred Wright pursued his first Grand Tour stage victory.

The Bahrain-Victorious rider was part of a three-man breakaway alongside Italy’s Mattia Cattaneo of Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl and Belgium's Frederik Frison of Lotto–Soudal.

The Briton pushed in front in the last 10km, but he was caught by an accelerating group with an estimated 3.5km remaining.

The frontrunner changed hands numerous as the finish approached.

Matthews, seeking his first Tour stage win in five years, took the lead, though his sprint was too early and van Aert paced to victory.

"I'm of course super happy with today's win," van Aert said.

"I want to thank my team for chasing down the breakaway and then you have to finish it off. It was a pretty tough climb at the end. It was really steep - I had to fight to stay in wheel of Pogačar and his team-mates.

"I knew it was a bit flatter for the sprint, so I was waiting for that moment."

The 10th stage of the Tour de France is set to see competitors go from Aigle in Switzerland to Châtel, which is on the border of the two countries.