
Van der Poel Wins Stage 2, Takes Yellow at Tour de France
The victory saw the Dutch rider take the lead in the overall standings after depriving Pogacar of his 100th career win as around 30 riders broke away in the final 2km.
It was a second Tour de France stage win for Van der Poel, who took the yellow jersey from his teammate Jasper Philipsen -- the winner of Saturday's opening stage.
Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard seemed at ease as he crossed the line in third with Frenchman Romain Gregoire fourth and his compatriot Julian Alaphilippe fifth.
Van der Poel also won stage two on the 2021 Tour de France and then dug deep to retain the yellow jersey for six gruelling days.
'Winning again four years after the last time, that's just great. In recent years I tried to get here on top form but never quite did,' said Van der Poel, adding that racing the recent Criterium du Dauphine had done the trick.
'I also watched a video of the final kilometre three times this morning and knew exactly how to take it.'
The Dutch rider is the grandson of French cycling legend Raymond Poulidor, who came second in the Tour de France seven times, but never won and also never got to wear the yellow jersey.
'It was more emotional last time because he (Poulidor) had just died. I had so wanted to win it while he was still alive,' said Van der Poel.
Poulidor's grandson had punched the ground and screamed wildly on realising he had taken the jersey on his previous Tour de France stage win at the Mur de Bretagne.
There were no such scenes this time.
'I had a feeling I could win the stage today but taking the yellow jersey is a nice bonus,' said Van der Poel, normally better suited to the ultra-long Monument races, of which he won Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix this season.
His teammate Philipsen may have lost the yellow jersey, but he will set off Monday wearing the green one assigned to the peloton's best sprinter.
Defending champion Pogacar was also invited onto the podium due to the points he won atop the four hills of the day's stage that saw him earn the right to don the polka-dot king of the mountains tunic.
Team UAE's Slovenian rider is second in the overall standings, with Visma's Vingegaard just two seconds behind him in third.
- Stolen bikes and heavy rain -
The race got going as Pogacar and Vingegaard tested each other over the final 20km with three short, sharp climbs on narrow roads.
That struggle blew up a peloton that had been largely sedate until then.
Heavy rain left giant puddles at the tiny start town of Lauwin Planque as the 182 riders set off on the 209km run towards the coastal port.
Regional police estimated that one million spectators had lined the roadsides on the opening day of action, but the rain dissuaded that kind of turnout on Sunday.
French team Cofidis had to scramble Sunday morning as they had 11 bikes stolen from a team truck during the night.
Monday's third stage is a 178km flat run to Dunkirk, where a mass bunch sprint is expected unless the peloton gets splintered by winds as it did on stage one.
The first section of the Tour is raced through the north and west of France. The volcanic landscape of the Puy de Dome present the first mountains as late as stage 10, with two more colossal climb days in the Pyrenees before the blockbuster final week in the Alps - AFP
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Fencing-French Olympic fencer cleared as CAS accepts positive test linked to kissing partner
Paris 2024 Olympics - Fencing - Women's Foil Team Classifications 5-8 - Grand Palais, Paris, France - August 01, 2024. Ysaora Thibus of France is seen during the bout against China. REUTERS/Albert Gea (Reuters) -The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has overturned French Olympic fencer Ysaora Thibus's four-year suspension for doping, ruling that her positive test for a banned substance was caused by kissing her then-boyfriend, American fencer Race Imboden. Thibus, silver medallist in team foil at the Tokyo Games, had tested positive for ostarine, a prohibited muscle-building substance, during a competition in Paris in January 2024. However, CAS concluded there was no intentional wrongdoing, finding it scientifically plausible that repeated kissing over several days with Olympic medallist Imboden — who was taking ostarine at the time — led to accidental contamination. The court dismissed an appeal from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which had sought a four-year suspension. The sport's top court instead upheld a previous ruling from the International Fencing Federation's doping disciplinary tribunal (DDT) that had already cleared Thibus of any fault. "The CAS Panel ruled that the antidoping rule violation for the presence of ostarine was not intentional, and that it is not questionable that Ms Thibus bears no fault or negligence," the court said in a statement. "The DDT decision is upheld and the appeal is dismissed." The case has drawn comparisons to an incident in 2009 involving French tennis player Richard Gasquet, who was exonerated after arguing that he had tested positive for cocaine after kissing someone at a nightclub. Thibus was able to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics following the initial DDT ruling, finishing fifth in the team foil event on home soil. (Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios in Mexico City; editing by Clare Fallon)


The Star
3 hours ago
- The Star
Cycling-Cofidis recovers all 11 stolen bikes at Tour de France
DUNKIRK, France (Reuters) -Eleven bicycles belonging to Cofidis, stolen overnight before the second stage of the Tour de France, have been recovered, the team's general manager Cedric Vasseur said on Monday following the third stage of the race. "I had Christian Prudhomme (the Tour's director) on the phone during the stage. He was with the prefect to tell us that the bikes had been found in the afternoon", Vasseur told France TV after the conclusion of the third stage. The team had earlier reported that five of the 11 bikes had been recovered. "Some of the staff combed the area and managed to get their hands on five bicycles, which had been thrown away by the criminals in undergrowth near the hotel", the team said in a press release. (Reporting by Vincent Daheron; Editing by Ken Ferris)


New Straits Times
5 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Belgium's Merlier edges Milan in photo finish after crash-marred stage
FRANCE: Tim Merlier won the third stage of the Tour de France on Monday after a sprint finish that resulted in a number of riders crashing saw the Belgian edge just ahead of Jonathan Milan. The Soudal Quick-Step rider needed a photo finish to confirm he ended narrowly in front of Italian Milan at the finish line in the coastal city of Dunkirk. Germany's Phil Bauhaus of Bahrain Victorious was third, while Dutchman Mathieu Van der Poel kept the yellow leader jersey after finishing in 23rd place. The stage took a dramatic turn 60km from the end when Belgian rider Jasper Philipsen withdrew from the Tour following a heavy crash. The peloton rode closely together for most of the 178.3 km flat stage from Valenciennes to Dunkirk. 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.