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The Guardian
a day ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
Tour de France 2025: Van der Poel sprints to stage two victory and into yellow jersey
Mathieu van der Poel won stage two of the 2025 Tour de France into Boulogne-sur-Mer for Alpecin-Deceuninck, claiming the race lead from his teammate Jasper Philipsen after a quick succession of short climbs inside the final kilometres exploded the peloton on the approach to the Channel port. The Dutchman thwarted Tadej Pogacar's attempt to take the 100th win of his career, outsprinting the defending Tour champion on the steady final climb of the Boulevard Auguste Mariette. 'The final was actually harder than I thought,' said Van der Poel. 'I was really motivated. It's four years since I won my first stage on the Tour, so it was about time I won a second one.' Philipsen, who had started the stage in the yellow jersey after winning stage one to Lille on Saturday, was distanced in the closing kilometres and Van der Poel took the race lead from the Belgian sprinter. 'People said I was a favourite, but if you see which riders were in front, on the climbs, I did a really good job today to be there,' said Van der Poel, winner of the 2023 World Road Race Championships in Glasgow. 'The climbs were harder than I expected and [ridden at] a hard pace. It was a nervous day again.' Pogacar's main rival, Jonas Vingegaard of Visma-Lease a Bike, followed the Slovenian across the finish line, with the Olympic champion, Remco Evenepoel, distanced on Saturday's stage, showing greater vigilance to also finish in the front group. Meanwhile, away from the Tour, Vingegaard's wife, Trine Vingegaard Hansen, told the Danish newspaper Politiken that the Visma-Lease a Bike team is pushing her husband 'too far'. 'I'm afraid he's burning the candle at both ends,' she said of the double Tour winner. 'I think people sometimes forget the human being behind the athlete. It could all backfire.' Primoz Roglic, only a year ago characterised as one of the Tour's 'big four', finished in the lead group after ceding ground in Lille, but has done little so far to dispel the impression that he has relinquished any lingering hopes of contending for the overall title. The Slovenian is the winner of the Vuelta a España four times and also the Giro d'Italia in 2023, but told the media as the race began that he 'didn't really care' and just wanted to 'make it to Paris for a glass of champagne'. He has been anonymous so far. The 35-year-old was, with his Bora Hansghrohe teammate Florian Lipowitz, among those who missed Saturday's decisive split in the front group on the fast approach to Lille. 'The guys were asleep,' Roglic's sports director, Enrico Gasparotto, said of their costly error on the opening stage. 'We talked about that stretch, the wind and the related dangers, but they were surprised. We are all aware of the opportunity we wasted: Roglic and Lipowitz lost the chance to gain time on Remco. We learned an important lesson.' Worse befell the hapless French rider Benjamin Thomas, who crashed on Saturday's stage while fighting his compatriot Mattéo Vercher for a single point in the mountains classification on Mont Cassel. He woke on Sunday morning to the news that his bike, along with 10 others from the Cofidis team, worth about €140,000 (£120,000), had been stolen from their vehicles overnight. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion Ineos Grenadiers are also already on the back foot, having lost the time-trialling powerhouse Filippo Ganna on stage one to a concussion, while their team leader, Carlos Rodríguez, and the 2018 Tour winner, Geraint Thomas, both missed the decisive break in Saturday's dramatic finale in Lille. Movistar's Marlen Reusser won the individual time trial opening stage of the Giro d'Italia Women to claim the race leader's pink jersey. The Swiss national time trial champion went 12 seconds quicker than Lotte Kopecky on the 14.2km course through Bergamo to claim the stage win and will wear the maglia rosa during Monday's second stage from Clusone to Aprica. The Italian Elisa Longo Borghini finished third, 16 seconds behind Reusser. Both Rodríguez and Thomas lost a further 31sec to the front group on the run-in to Boulogne-sur-Mer, and are now 1min 16sec behind Pogacar after the opening weekend. Sir Dave Brailsford, Ineos's returning supremo, and Thomas, his management protege in waiting, already have much to ponder. 'I should have stopped last year, to be honest,' the 39-year-old Welshman observed drily on Saturday. Monday is another day, but there is yet another tricky stage to come, through the Nord and towards the Channel, this time to Dunkirk, in which the cobbles of Mont Cassel and the crosswinds off the sea will again play their part.
Irish Times
a day ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Tour de France 2025: Mathieu van der Poel sprints to stage two victory and into yellow jersey
Mathieu van der Poel won stage two of the 2025 Tour de France into Boulogne-sur-Mer for Alpecin-Deceuninck, claiming the race lead from his team-mate Jasper Philipsen after a quick succession of short climbs inside the final kilometres exploded the peloton on the approach to the Channel port. The Dutchman thwarted Tadej Pogacar's attempt to take the 100th win of his career, outsprinting the defending Tour champion on the steady final climb of the Boulevard Auguste Mariette. 'The final was actually harder than I thought,' said Van der Poel. 'I was really motivated. It's four years since I won my first stage on the Tour, so it was about time I won a second one.' It was a much-improved day for the two Irish riders. Eddie Dunbar finished the stage 48th to climb to 84th in the General Classification, while Ben Healy was close behind in 52nd to jump to 42nd in the GC. READ MORE Philipsen, who had started the stage in the yellow jersey after winning stage one to Lille on Saturday, was distanced in the closing kilometres and Van der Poel took the race lead from the Belgian sprinter. 'People said I was a favourite, but if you see which riders were in front, on the climbs, I did a really good job today to be there,' said Van der Poel. 'The climbs were harder than I expected and [ridden at] a hard pace. It was a nervous day again.' Pogacar's main rival, Jonas Vingegaard of Visma Lease-a-bike, followed the Slovenian across the finish line, with the Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel distanced on Saturday's stage, showing greater vigilance to also finish in the front group. Primoz Roglic, only a year ago characterised as one of the Tour's 'big four', finished in the lead group after ceding ground in Lille, but has done little so far to dispel the impression that he has relinquished any lingering hopes of contending for the overall title. The Slovenian is the winner of the Vuelta a España four times and also the Giro d'Italia in 2023, but told the media as the race began that he 'didn't really care' and just wanted to 'make it to Paris for a glass of champagne'. He has been anonymous so far. The 35-year-old was, with his Bora Hansghrohe team-mate Florian Lipowitz, among those who missed Saturday's decisive split in the front group on the fast approach to Lille. 'The guys were asleep,' Roglic's sports director Enrico Gasparotto said of their costly error on the opening stage. 'We talked about that stretch, the wind and the related dangers, but they were surprised. 'We are all aware of the opportunity we wasted: Roglic and Lipowitz lost the chance to gain time on Remco. We learned an important lesson.' Worse befell the hapless French rider Benjamin Thomas, who crashed on Saturday's stage while fighting his compatriot Matteo Vercher for a single point in the mountains classification on Mont Cassel, and woke on Sunday morning to the news that his bike, along with 10 others from the Cofidis team, worth about €140,000, had been stolen from their vehicles overnight. Ineos Grenadiers are also already on the back foot, having lost the time-trialling powerhouse Filippo Ganna to a concussion on stage one, while their team leader Carlos Rodríguez and the 2018 Tour winner Geraint Thomas both missed the decisive break in Saturday's dramatic finale in Lille. Rodríguez and Thomas lost a further 31 seconds to the front group on the run-in to Boulogne-sur-Mer, and are now one minute 16 seconds behind Pogacar after the opening weekend. Monday is another day but there is yet another tricky stage to come, through the Nord and towards the Channel, this time to Dunkirk, in which the cobbles of Mont Cassel and the crosswinds off the sea will again play their part. – Guardian
Khaleej Times
a day ago
- Sport
- Khaleej Times
Dutch powerhouse Van der Poel takes Tour de France lead
Alpecin's Mathieu van der Poel edged Tadej Pogacar to win the second stage of the Tour de France in a tense hilltop finale at Boulogne-sur-Mer on Sunday. 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," Van der Poel said. 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. "I had a feeling I could win the stage today but taking the yellow jersey is a nice bonus," Van der Poel said. 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. 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. French team Cofidis had to scramble Sunday morning as they had 11 bikes stolen from a team truck during the night.
The Guardian
a day ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
Tour de France 2025: Van der Poel sprints to stage two victory and into yellow jersey
Mathieu van der Poel won stage two of the 2025 Tour de France into Boulogne-sur-Mer for Alpecin-Deceuninck and claimed the race lead, after a quick succession of short climbs inside the final kilometres exploded the peloton on the approach to the Channel port. The Dutch rider thwarted Tadej Pogacar's attempt to take the 100th win of his career, outsprinting the defending Tour champion on the steady final climb of the Boulevard Auguste Mariette. His teammate Jasper Philipsen, wearing the yellow jersey after winning stage one to Lille on Saturday, was distanced in the closing kilometres and Van der Poel took the race lead from the Belgian sprinter. Pogacar's main rival, Jonas Vingegaard of Visma Lease-a-bike, followed the Slovenian across the finish line, with the Olympic champion, Remco Evenepoel, distanced on Saturday's stage, showing greater vigilance to finish in the front group. But for the hapless French rider Benjamin Thomas, who crashed on Saturday's stage while fighting his compatriot Matteo Vercher for a single point in the mountains classification on Mont Cassel, Sunday morning dawned with the news that his bike, along with 10 others from the Cofidis team worth about €140,000 (£120,000), had been stolen from their vehicles overnight. Monday is likely to be another sprinters' stage, with a third tricky day through the Nord and towards the Channel, this time to Dunkirk, in which the cobbles of Mont Cassel and the crosswinds off the sea will again play their part. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion Full report to follow
