One plus one equals two for Alpecin Deceuninck (Stage 2)
It's been two days in a row where I'm happy I wasn't riding because they set off for the longest stage in heavy rain. Caleb Ewan
Teamwork and adaptability were central themes of the day, as riders juggled survival and support roles in the tough conditions. With stage three on the horizon and a flatter profile ahead, the team looked forward to a classic sprinters' showdown—if the weather holds.
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The Advertiser
38 minutes ago
- The Advertiser
Merlier edges out Milan after crash-marred Tour stage
Tim Merlier has won the third stage of the Tour de France after a chaotic sprint finish on a crash-marred section that saw the Belgian edge just ahead of Italian rider Jonathan Milan. The Soudal Quick-Step rider needed a photo finish to confirm he ended narrowly in front of Milan at the finish line in the coastal city of Dunkerque. "He will be, as soon as possible, transferred to the hospital in Herentals, where he will undergo surgery." While Philipsen, who was also wearing the green jersey, ended his Tour on a sour note, it will give an opportunity to his Australian teammate Kaden Groves, who could step into the breach as lead sprinter for Alpecin-Deceuninck, despite this being his Tour de France debut. The winner of nine stages across the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana, the 26-year-old Queenslander played his part in helping Philipsen to victory on day one. He finished seventh in the chasing pack on Monday and now becomes his team's main sprint focus. Philipsen's manager Philip Roodhooft said: "It's clear that the other two riders collided and as a result Jasper was hit and crashed badly. There's a reason for it but we're not talking about who's to blame, it's a case of bad luck and an incident in the race," "But obviously the circumstances for us as a team and for Jasper individually are terrible," he said. "It's a blow to the mental health of the whole team and it's the worst thing for Jasper. But it goes on." Coquard was visibly emotional in the aftermath of the race. "I was clearly off balance and lost the pedal. I'd like to apologise to Philipsen and Alpecin, even if it wasn't deliberate. Even though I'm not a bad lad, it wasn't pleasant," he said. The next highest Australian stage three finishers were Robert Stannard (Bahrain-Victorious) 47th, Jarrad Drizners (Lotto) 57th, Jack Haig (Bahrain-Victorious) 103rd, Michael Storer, Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla) 130th and Harry Sweeny (EF Education) 136th. O'Connor (Jayco AlUla), Australia's main hope for the General Classification, has moved himself up one more place to ninth position overall. The peloton rode closely together for most of the 178.3 km flat stage from Valenciennes to Dunkerque. Seemingly cautious, the riders held back from making any decisive moves, with nearly the entire group staying in the peloton until the final stretch, setting up a mass sprint finish. "It was a really hard battle. It was difficult to be in position," Merlier said. "I think from two kilometres I fought back from behind to come back in position, and I was in the wind all the time, and only with 500 metres to go I found a bit of slipstream. I know next to Milan is always difficult." The messy finale saw two separate crashes within the last 3km with the first one bringing down several riders, including Geraint Thomas, Jordi Meeus and Remco Evenepoel. Just ahead of the final corner, several riders lost control and went down, including Alexis Renard, Cees Bol, and Paul Penhoet, who chose to walk his bike across the finish line. Tuesday's 174-km fourth stage starts from Amiens and ends with five consecutive small climbs to the Normandy city of Rouen. Tim Merlier has won the third stage of the Tour de France after a chaotic sprint finish on a crash-marred section that saw the Belgian edge just ahead of Italian rider Jonathan Milan. The Soudal Quick-Step rider needed a photo finish to confirm he ended narrowly in front of Milan at the finish line in the coastal city of Dunkerque. "He will be, as soon as possible, transferred to the hospital in Herentals, where he will undergo surgery." While Philipsen, who was also wearing the green jersey, ended his Tour on a sour note, it will give an opportunity to his Australian teammate Kaden Groves, who could step into the breach as lead sprinter for Alpecin-Deceuninck, despite this being his Tour de France debut. The winner of nine stages across the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana, the 26-year-old Queenslander played his part in helping Philipsen to victory on day one. He finished seventh in the chasing pack on Monday and now becomes his team's main sprint focus. Philipsen's manager Philip Roodhooft said: "It's clear that the other two riders collided and as a result Jasper was hit and crashed badly. There's a reason for it but we're not talking about who's to blame, it's a case of bad luck and an incident in the race," "But obviously the circumstances for us as a team and for Jasper individually are terrible," he said. "It's a blow to the mental health of the whole team and it's the worst thing for Jasper. But it goes on." Coquard was visibly emotional in the aftermath of the race. "I was clearly off balance and lost the pedal. I'd like to apologise to Philipsen and Alpecin, even if it wasn't deliberate. Even though I'm not a bad lad, it wasn't pleasant," he said. The next highest Australian stage three finishers were Robert Stannard (Bahrain-Victorious) 47th, Jarrad Drizners (Lotto) 57th, Jack Haig (Bahrain-Victorious) 103rd, Michael Storer, Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla) 130th and Harry Sweeny (EF Education) 136th. O'Connor (Jayco AlUla), Australia's main hope for the General Classification, has moved himself up one more place to ninth position overall. The peloton rode closely together for most of the 178.3 km flat stage from Valenciennes to Dunkerque. Seemingly cautious, the riders held back from making any decisive moves, with nearly the entire group staying in the peloton until the final stretch, setting up a mass sprint finish. "It was a really hard battle. It was difficult to be in position," Merlier said. "I think from two kilometres I fought back from behind to come back in position, and I was in the wind all the time, and only with 500 metres to go I found a bit of slipstream. I know next to Milan is always difficult." The messy finale saw two separate crashes within the last 3km with the first one bringing down several riders, including Geraint Thomas, Jordi Meeus and Remco Evenepoel. Just ahead of the final corner, several riders lost control and went down, including Alexis Renard, Cees Bol, and Paul Penhoet, who chose to walk his bike across the finish line. Tuesday's 174-km fourth stage starts from Amiens and ends with five consecutive small climbs to the Normandy city of Rouen. Tim Merlier has won the third stage of the Tour de France after a chaotic sprint finish on a crash-marred section that saw the Belgian edge just ahead of Italian rider Jonathan Milan. The Soudal Quick-Step rider needed a photo finish to confirm he ended narrowly in front of Milan at the finish line in the coastal city of Dunkerque. "He will be, as soon as possible, transferred to the hospital in Herentals, where he will undergo surgery." While Philipsen, who was also wearing the green jersey, ended his Tour on a sour note, it will give an opportunity to his Australian teammate Kaden Groves, who could step into the breach as lead sprinter for Alpecin-Deceuninck, despite this being his Tour de France debut. The winner of nine stages across the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana, the 26-year-old Queenslander played his part in helping Philipsen to victory on day one. He finished seventh in the chasing pack on Monday and now becomes his team's main sprint focus. Philipsen's manager Philip Roodhooft said: "It's clear that the other two riders collided and as a result Jasper was hit and crashed badly. There's a reason for it but we're not talking about who's to blame, it's a case of bad luck and an incident in the race," "But obviously the circumstances for us as a team and for Jasper individually are terrible," he said. "It's a blow to the mental health of the whole team and it's the worst thing for Jasper. But it goes on." Coquard was visibly emotional in the aftermath of the race. "I was clearly off balance and lost the pedal. I'd like to apologise to Philipsen and Alpecin, even if it wasn't deliberate. Even though I'm not a bad lad, it wasn't pleasant," he said. The next highest Australian stage three finishers were Robert Stannard (Bahrain-Victorious) 47th, Jarrad Drizners (Lotto) 57th, Jack Haig (Bahrain-Victorious) 103rd, Michael Storer, Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla) 130th and Harry Sweeny (EF Education) 136th. O'Connor (Jayco AlUla), Australia's main hope for the General Classification, has moved himself up one more place to ninth position overall. The peloton rode closely together for most of the 178.3 km flat stage from Valenciennes to Dunkerque. Seemingly cautious, the riders held back from making any decisive moves, with nearly the entire group staying in the peloton until the final stretch, setting up a mass sprint finish. "It was a really hard battle. It was difficult to be in position," Merlier said. "I think from two kilometres I fought back from behind to come back in position, and I was in the wind all the time, and only with 500 metres to go I found a bit of slipstream. I know next to Milan is always difficult." The messy finale saw two separate crashes within the last 3km with the first one bringing down several riders, including Geraint Thomas, Jordi Meeus and Remco Evenepoel. Just ahead of the final corner, several riders lost control and went down, including Alexis Renard, Cees Bol, and Paul Penhoet, who chose to walk his bike across the finish line. Tuesday's 174-km fourth stage starts from Amiens and ends with five consecutive small climbs to the Normandy city of Rouen. Tim Merlier has won the third stage of the Tour de France after a chaotic sprint finish on a crash-marred section that saw the Belgian edge just ahead of Italian rider Jonathan Milan. The Soudal Quick-Step rider needed a photo finish to confirm he ended narrowly in front of Milan at the finish line in the coastal city of Dunkerque. "He will be, as soon as possible, transferred to the hospital in Herentals, where he will undergo surgery." While Philipsen, who was also wearing the green jersey, ended his Tour on a sour note, it will give an opportunity to his Australian teammate Kaden Groves, who could step into the breach as lead sprinter for Alpecin-Deceuninck, despite this being his Tour de France debut. The winner of nine stages across the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana, the 26-year-old Queenslander played his part in helping Philipsen to victory on day one. He finished seventh in the chasing pack on Monday and now becomes his team's main sprint focus. Philipsen's manager Philip Roodhooft said: "It's clear that the other two riders collided and as a result Jasper was hit and crashed badly. There's a reason for it but we're not talking about who's to blame, it's a case of bad luck and an incident in the race," "But obviously the circumstances for us as a team and for Jasper individually are terrible," he said. "It's a blow to the mental health of the whole team and it's the worst thing for Jasper. But it goes on." Coquard was visibly emotional in the aftermath of the race. "I was clearly off balance and lost the pedal. I'd like to apologise to Philipsen and Alpecin, even if it wasn't deliberate. Even though I'm not a bad lad, it wasn't pleasant," he said. The next highest Australian stage three finishers were Robert Stannard (Bahrain-Victorious) 47th, Jarrad Drizners (Lotto) 57th, Jack Haig (Bahrain-Victorious) 103rd, Michael Storer, Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla) 130th and Harry Sweeny (EF Education) 136th. O'Connor (Jayco AlUla), Australia's main hope for the General Classification, has moved himself up one more place to ninth position overall. The peloton rode closely together for most of the 178.3 km flat stage from Valenciennes to Dunkerque. Seemingly cautious, the riders held back from making any decisive moves, with nearly the entire group staying in the peloton until the final stretch, setting up a mass sprint finish. "It was a really hard battle. It was difficult to be in position," Merlier said. "I think from two kilometres I fought back from behind to come back in position, and I was in the wind all the time, and only with 500 metres to go I found a bit of slipstream. I know next to Milan is always difficult." The messy finale saw two separate crashes within the last 3km with the first one bringing down several riders, including Geraint Thomas, Jordi Meeus and Remco Evenepoel. Just ahead of the final corner, several riders lost control and went down, including Alexis Renard, Cees Bol, and Paul Penhoet, who chose to walk his bike across the finish line. Tuesday's 174-km fourth stage starts from Amiens and ends with five consecutive small climbs to the Normandy city of Rouen.
Perth Now
4 hours ago
- Perth Now
Merlier edges out Milan after crash-marred Tour stage
Tim Merlier has won the third stage of the Tour de France after a sprint finish on a crash-marred section that saw the Belgian edge just ahead of Italian rider Jonathan Milan. The Soudal Quick-Step rider needed a photo finish to confirm he ended narrowly in front of Milan at the finish line in the coastal city of Dunkerque. But the stage took a dramatic turn 60km from the end when Belgian rider Jasper Philipsen was forced to withdrew from the race following a heavy crash. Philipsen hit the road hard following contact with Bryan Coquard during an intermediate sprint, his fall came just two days after winning the opening stage and his injuries made it impossible for him to continue. The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider had his jersey ripped in several places and suffered bloody scrapes before being attended to by the race doctor shortly afterwards with fears he may have suffered a broken shoulder Philipsen, who was also wearing the green jersey, ends his Tour on a sour note despite having won the opening stage on Saturday. The race continues around France and finishes on July 27. But it will at least give an opportunity to his Australian teammate Kaden Groves, who could now step into the breach as lead sprinter for Alpecin-Deceuninck, despite this being his Tour de France debut. The winner of nine stages across the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana, the 26-year-old Queenslander played his part in helping Philipsen to victory on day one. He finished seventh in the chasing pack on Monday and now becomes Alpecin-Deceuninck's main sprint focus. The next highest Australian stage three finishers were Robert Stannard (Bahrain-Victorious) 47th, Jarrad Drizners (Lotto) 57th, Jack Haig (Bahrain-Victorious) 103rd, Michael Storer, Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla) 130th and Harry Sweeny (EF Education) 136th. O'Connor (Jayco AlUla), Australia's main hope for the General Classification, has moved himself up one more place to ninth position overall. The peloton rode closely together for most of the 178.3 km flat stage from Valenciennes to Dunkerque. Seemingly cautious, the riders held back from making any decisive moves, with nearly the entire group staying in the peloton until the final stretch, setting up a mass sprint finish that ended with several riders crashing in the closing metres. "It was a really hard battle. It was difficult to be in position," Merlier said. "I think from two kilometres I fought back from behind to come back in position, and I was in the wind all the time, and only with 500 metres to go I found a bit of slipstream. I know next to Milan is always difficult." The messy finale saw two separate crashes within the last 3km with the first one bringing down several riders, including Geraint Thomas, Jordi Meeus and Remco Evenepoel. Just ahead of the final corner, several riders lost control and went down, including Alexis Renard, Cees Bol, and Paul Penhoet, who chose to walk his bike across the finish line. "I lost Bert (Van Lerberghe) before the last corner, but I must say the team did an incredible job in the last 5km, but then the real chaos started and it was really difficult to find position," Merlier added. Tuesday's The 174-km fourth stage is another hilly one for allrounders like Van der Poel and his former cyclo-cross rival Wout van Aert. It starts from Amiens and ends with five consecutive small climbs to the Normandy city of race is entirely in France, with no stages held abroad as in previous years.
ABC News
a day ago
- ABC News
Mathieu van der Poel takes Tour de France yellow jersey with stage two sprint
Dutch cyclist Mathieu van der Poel won the hilly second stage of the Tour de France on Sunday after holding off defending champion Tadej Pogačar and two-time winner Jonas Vingegaard in a sprint to the line. Van der Poel took the race leader's yellow jersey from his Alpecin–Deceuninck teammate Jasper Philipsen in a second career stage victory on the Tour. Neither rider is considered an overall contender. "It was super difficult, the finale was harder than I thought. But I was really motivated," Van der Poel said. "Finally, four years after my first [stage] win, it was about time I took a second one. It's also the second time I'm rewarded with the yellow jersey as well, so I guess it was worth the wait." He intends to wear yellow a little longer yet. "I hope I can keep the jersey until the time trial [on Wednesday]," Van der Poel said. "[After that] it will be very hard." Stage two was delayed by about 15 minutes after team buses arrived late to their parking spots because of heavy morning rain. Fans lined the roads wearing raincoats and riders wore light jackets amid wet and blustery conditions on the slightly hilly 209 kilometre (130 mile) trek from Lauwin-Planque to Boulogne-sur-Mer in northern France. The longest trek of this year's race featured about 4 kilometres of climbing suited to all-rounders like the three-time Paris-Roubaix classic winner Van der Poel and former cyclo-cross star Wout van Aert. Greasy roads increased the risk of spills and a strong headwind greeted riders approaching the finish as they took on the day's three consecutive climbs — short and sharp but very modest ones compared to the giant Alpine and Pyrenean ascents later in the three-week race. None of the main Tour contenders could launch a decisive attack, although Vingegaard tried with 5 kilometres left. Instead, it was Van der Poel — nicknamed "The Flying Dutchman" — who surged clear and then withstood Pogačar's late burst, having also beaten the Slovenian star at Paris-Roubaix in April. Van der Poel crossed the line in 4 hours, 45 minutes, 41 seconds with Pogačar in second place and Vingegaard in third recording the same time. Pogačar misjudged his attack, a rare mistake for him. "Mathieu was stronger in the final sprint, so chapeau to him," Pogačar said. "To be honest I messed up a little bit, because I got a bit scared to sprint against him and I waited too long on his wheel." In the overall standings, Pogačar is four seconds behind Van der Poel. Vingegaard is another two seconds back. Jack Haig was the best of the Australians, finishing 31 seconds back in 36th. Ben O'Connor remains the best-placed Australian overall, in 10th position, 41 seconds off the lead. Four-time Spanish Vuelta winner Primož Roglič — the 2020 Tour runner-up from Slovenia — and double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel had both lost time on Saturday after being caught in a late crosswind. They did not lose further time Sunday to Pogačar and Vingegaard, who enters this year's Tour in better shape. Last year, the Dane had barely recovered from a heavy race crash in Spain that left him with a collapsed lung, several broken ribs and a broken collarbone. He finished the Tour in second place but could not match Pogačar in big climbs. The 30-year-old Van der Poel was born in Belgium and shot to fame as a multiple cyclo-cross world champion before turning his sights to one-day classics and stage racing. Cycling runs in the family. His father Adri was also a cyclo-cross world champion and Van der Poel's maternal grandfather was the late French cyclist Raymond Poulidor. Poulidor took part in 14 Tours from 1962-76, finishing in second place overall three times and third five times. Nicknamed "Poupou" and "The Eternal Runner-up," Poulidor was adored by French fans. Stage three is a flat stage for sprinters, 178.3 kilometres from Valenciennes to the coastal city of Dunkerque. This race is entirely in France, with no stages held abroad as in previous years, and ends July 27 in Paris. AP/ABC
