Latest news with #LauwinPlanque
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Mathieu van der Poel claims Tour de France lead after Stage 2 win
Mathieu Van der Poel of the Netherlands won a sprint to the finish to claim Stage 2 of the Tour de France on Sunday, July 6, just ahead of Slovenian Tadej Pogacar. As the peloton stayed together for much of the 209-kilometer route from Lauwin-Planque to Boulogne-sur-Mer, Van der Poel won the mass sprint to the finish line, edging out Pogacar in a photo finish with Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard taking third. Advertisement Van der Poel also claimed the race leader's yellow jersey after winning the longest stage of the Tour. "It was super difficult, the final was actually harder than I thought," he said. Stage 2 results Finals results of the 209-kilometer Stage 2 from Lauwin-Planque to Boulogne-sur-Mer at the 2025 Tour de France from Sunday, July 6. Pos. Rider Team Time Gap B 1 Mathieu Van der Poel Alpecin-Deceuninck 04h 45' 41'' - B : 10'' 2 Tadej Pogacar UAE Team Emirates XRG 04h 45' 41'' - B : 6'' 3 Jonas Vingegaard Team Visma | Lease A Bike 04h 45' 41'' - B : 4'' 4 Romain Gregoire Groupama-FDJ 04h 45' 41'' - - 5 Julian Alaphilippe Tudor Pro Cycling Team 04h 45' 41'' - - 6 Oscar Onley Team Picnic Postnl 04h 45' 41'' - - 7 Aurelein Paret Peintre Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team 04h 45' 41'' - - 8 Kevin Vauquelin Arkea-B&B Hotels 04h 45' 41'' - - 9 Simone Velasco XDS Astana Team 04h 45' 41'' - - 10 Jenno Berckmoes Lotto 04h 45' 41'' - - Tour de France 2025 standings Mathieu Van der Poel, Netherlands: 08h 38' 42'' Tadej Pogacar, Solvenia: 08h 38' 46'' (4 seconds behind) Jonas Vingegaard, Denmark: 08h 38' 48'' (6 seconds) Kevin Vauquelin, France: 08h 38' 52'' (10 seconds) Matteo Jorgenson, USA: 08h 38' 52'' (10 seconds) Enric Mas, Spain: 08h 38' 52'' (10 seconds) Jasper Philipsen, Belgium: 08h 39' 13'' (31 seconds) Joseph Blackmore, Great Britain: 08h 39' 23'' (41 seconds) Tobias Johannessen, Norway: 08h 39' 23'' (41 seconds) Ben O'Connor: Australia: 08h 39' 23'' (41 seconds) Alpecin-Deceuninck team rider Mathieu van der Poel of the Netherlands celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win Stage 2 of the 2025 Tour de France, just ahead of Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia. 2025 Tour de France jersey leaders Yellow (overall race leader): Mathieu Van der Poel, Netherlands Green (points): Jasper Philipsen, Belgium Polka dot (mountains): Tadej Pogacar, Solvenia White (young rider): Kevin Vauquelin, France Advertisement Who's wearing the rainbow jersey at 2025 Tour de France? In addition to the four traditional colored jerseys at the Tour de France, the reigning world road race champion wears a rainbow-colored jersey. It's white with five colored stripes – blue, red, black, yellow and green (same as the colors of the Olympic rings) – and is currently worn by Tadej Pogacar of Solvenia. 2025 Tour de France next stage Stage 3 is a 178.3-kilometer route over flat terrain from Valenciennes to Dunkirk on Monday. Contributing: Reuters This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tour de France Stage 2: Mathieu Van der Poel claims yellow jersey
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Philipsen has successful surgery after breaking collarbone in Tour de France crash
Belgium's Jasper Philipsen wearing the best sprinter's green jersey celebrates on the podium after the second stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 209.1 kilometers (129.9 miles) with start in Lauwin-Planque and finish in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, Sunday, July 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy) PARIS (AP) — Belgian cyclist Jasper Philipsen had successful surgery after breaking a collarbone during the crash-marred third stage of the Tour de France. Philipsen was knocked over by Frenchman Bryan Coquard and landed heavily on his right side. The Stage 1 winner abandoned and was taken to hospital. Advertisement 'He underwent a successful surgery last night at AZ Herentals (hospital) to repair his collarbone and AC (shoulder) joint,' Philipsen's Alpecin-Deceuninck team posted on X on Tuesday. 'Now the road to recovery begins, and we'll be behind him all the way.' Philipsen has won 10 career stages on the Tour and was a contender for the best sprinter's green jersey. ___ AP sports:
ABC News
6 days ago
- Climate
- 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
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Van der Poel edges out Pogacar to claim yellow jersey
Mathieu van der Poel has pipped Tadej Pogacar to victory on the second stage of the Tour de France to take the yellow jersey from his Alpecin-Deceuninck team-mate Jasper Philipsen. Van der Poel edged an uphill sprint from overall favourites Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard before collapsing to the ground in Boulogne-sur-Mer, the end point of the hard-fought 209km stage from Lauwin-Planque, the longest of this year's Tour. It was the Dutchman's second career Tour stage win, and the second to bring him yellow after his win on the Mur-de-Bretagne in 2021, when he held it for six days. Van der Poel delivered on his status as favourite for a classics-style stage on Sunday that came down to the final three climbs of a rolling day across northern France. A series of attacks split the peloton into pieces and set up a ferocious battle up the short, steep rise to the line. Former world champion Julian Alaphilippe was the first to launch a major dig but Van der Poel and Pogacar were quickly on to his wheel, waiting for the finish line to come into view with a little over 100 metres to go. When Van der Poel opened the taps Pogacar responded but the world champion could not come around the man who wore the rainbows before him. "It was super difficult, the final, harder than I thought," Van der Poel said. "I was really motivated because it's been four years since I won my first stage on the Tour de France so it was about time I won a second one. Of course people put me as a favourite but if you see the riders that were in front on the climbs, I think I did a really good job to be there... "It's a dream for a team, these first two days, and everything that comes now is just a bonus." Van der Poel leads by four seconds from Pogacar, with Vingegaard a further two seconds back after bonus seconds were applied. Pogacar took the king of the mountains jersey, almost accidentally, as he led the group over the penultimate climb of the Cote de Saint-Etienne-au-Mont. Philipsen had been distanced on the Cote d'Outreau, the last categorised climb of the day, coming home 31 seconds down to hand the jersey to his Alpecin-Deceuninck team-mate. The start of the stage was held up by 15 minutes as teams were delayed getting to Lauwin-Planque in some miserable weather, but the sun eventually came out as the race heated up. Vingegaard, so active in Saturday's crosswinds, again looked spritely with the two-time Tour winner the first to push on as they came over the Cote d'Outreau to ensure it would be a selective finish. This time Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic stuck with the front group, but the Ineos Grenadiers' Carlos Rodriguez lost 31 seconds. The highest placed Australian was Bahrain Victorious rider Jack Haig, who was 36th. Compatriot Ben O'Connor was 43rd with Harry Sweeney 49th and Kaden Groves just outside the top 50 in 53rd. O'Connor, of Team Jayco AlUla, Australia's main classification hope, is up to 10th in the overall standings. Haig is 32nd. Monday brings a flat stage for sprinters, 178.3km from Valenciennes to the coastal city of Dunkerque.
New York Times
6 days ago
- Climate
- New York Times
Tour de France stage two: Van der Poel wins frantic finale, more Vingegaard aggression and why was Milan upset?
Mathieu van der Poel made it two wins from two stages for Alpecin-Deceuninck at the 2025 Tour de France, winning a frantic stage into Boulogne-sur-Mer on Sunday afternoon and taking over the race lead from his team-mate Jasper Philipsen. Overall race favorites Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard finished second and third respectively. Advertisement After the wind had played a decisive role in stage one, the race was greeted by torrential rain in the start town of Lauwin-Planque on Sunday, a downpour that delayed the start and made the first hour of racing a pretty miserable affair for the riders. The day's breakaway consisted of four riders — Bruno Armirail, Yevgeniy Fedorov, Brent Van Moer and Andreas Leknessund — and the peloton was more than happy for them to plug away at the front, eventually catching them shortly after the intermediate sprint, a point of the race that generated some minor drama between the sprinters. That regrouping ushered in a frantic final 50 kilometres, with the GC leaders moving to the front on the third category Côte du Haut Pichot and then maintaining a furious pace into the foot of the Côte de Saint-Étienne-au-Mont and then again into the Côte d'Outreau. But it was the final climb to the finish where the real fireworks took place, with Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe's Florian Lipowitz going clear, then a popular — if brief — attack from Tudor Cycling's Julian Alaphilippe inside the final kilometre, before Van der Poel went full Van der Poel, outsprinting Tadej Pogacar to take both the win and the yellow jersey. Jacob Whitehead and Tim Spiers look back at the key moments from Sunday's stage. Find all of The Athletic's Tour de France coverage here: When Mathieu van der Poel led out Tadej Pogacar with 500 metres to go, it looked as if he was generating the perfect setup for the Slovenian to ride into yellow. The finish was uphill and draining, plus the final 15 kilometres had been raced at a furious pace which had cracked the peloton into several groups. Surely Van der Poel couldn't hold Pogacar off? That he did with a wheel to spare confirmed his superhero status. He led out the sprint and then won it, beating Pogacar into second place for the third time this season, after doing so at Milan-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix. It was only the Dutchman's second Tour stage win. As with his first in 2021, it came on stage two and once again it put him into the yellow jersey. That means Van der Poel has twice achieved something his grandfather — French cycling legend Raymond Poulidor — never managed. Despite Poulidor winning seven Tour de France stages and finishing in the top 10 on 11 occasions in the 1960s and 1970s, he was never able to pull on cycling's most prestigious item of clothing. Mathieu back in yellow 4 years later 💛 Mathieu de retour en Jaune 4 ans après 🫶#TDF2025 l @MaillotjauneLCL — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 6, 2025 Van der Poel collapsed on the ground at the finish line, having completely drained himself in pushing back the tide of not only Pogacar but Jonas Vingegaard too. 'He's too fast for me,' Pogacar conceded after the race. The win was made all the more impressive by the fact Van der Poel — who had powered the pack up the final categorized climb of the day three kilometres out — couldn't even see the finish line until late, with a right-hander taking the peloton onto the short final straight, meaning he had to time his effort to perfection. ▶️ Relive the electric last km of stage 2 won by 🇳🇱 @mathieuvdpoel 💪 ▶️ Revivez le dernier kilomètre explosif de l'étape 2 remportée par 🇳🇱 @mathieuvdpoel 💪#TDF2025 | @Continental_fr — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 6, 2025 'It was super difficult, the final was actually harder than I thought,' he said. 'I was really motivated. It's been four years since I won my first stage on the Tour de France so it was about time I won a second one. 'People put me as a favourite (for the stage) but if you see which riders were in front on the climbs, I did a really good job today to be there. Advertisement 'The climbs were harder than I expected, it was a hard pace as well, you saw the second-to-last climb there were maybe three guys left on top. 'It's a dream for the team, the first two days… everything else that comes now is just a bonus.' Tim Spiers The day before the 2025 Tour de France began, Jonas Vingegaard sat in a cramped room and insisted to 100 journalists that this was a new version of the Tour de France champion before them. 'I'm more heavy now than I was last year, but it's muscle and it gives a lot more power. Let's see if that's enough,' he said. Its purpose? In the past, Vingegaard has been criticised for passivity, for waiting too long to attack. Emerging as a wispy climber, his (relatively) heavier-set rival Pogacar, in contrast, will attack for any bonus seconds, on any stage. Under the Dane's prior perspective, when you have the strongest team, why open yourself up to unnecessary risk? Perhaps it is because, strength-wise, UAE Team Emirates' squad now matches Visma Lease a Bike's, but at some stage, Vingegaard's strategy has changed. On stage one, his effort split the peloton in the crosswinds, causing Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic to lose time. On Sunday, he attacked on a downhill with five kilometres to go, attempting to gap Pogacar. Though the group eventually came back together, it showed Vingegaard's continued intent — he then finished third in the sprint behind Van der Poel and Pogacar. Asked what was behind the shift in attitudes, his team boss Grischa Niermann was blunt. 'Yeah I think he's just f***ing good,' he replied. 'I think he can go anywhere.' 'I did it for fun!' Vingegaard shouted over the top of him, from his warm-down bike. Back at the Visma team bus, there was optimism at their proactive team leader. The plan, originally, had been to ride for Wout van Aert, before his lack of form on the day switched plans towards Vingegaard. Advertisement 'You're a sprinter now,' joked his American teammate Matteo Jorgensen. 'I like it. You said in the press conference you were huge, so you have to back it up now.' 'You don't grow this for nothing,' Vingegaard replied. The iconic Mur-de-Bretagne on stage seven will be next opportunity to see just how significant that growth has been. Jacob Whitehead The Tour de France hates being late. The race derives so much income from television revenue that any shift to the schedule is an abhorrence. On stage two, in the small French village of Lauwin-Planque, they had no choice. At 12.05pm local time, just ten minutes before the planned start, the Red Bull-BORA-Hansgrohe bus was still mired in traffic. They were last in the queue, but they were just one team of many — of 23 teams at the race, only Astana and Bahrain-Victorious arrived at anything approaching 'on time'. Think a few of us might be late to the stage start today 😅 #TDF2025 — EF Pro Cycling (@EFprocycling) July 6, 2025 The issue? Lauwin-Planque's road system had been overwhelmed by a thunderstorm which had dumped both a foot of rain and a fleet of cars on the town. The Tour is keen to retain stage starts in these villages, a nod to French cycling's rural tradition. But their charm is also the issue — one road in, one road out. The roots of the sport were not watered here, but drowned. It left the stars of the peloton, Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard alike, rushing out their buses to strap on their rain jackets and adjust their bikes. The Tour's caravan is growing exponentially, and at some point race organisers will have a choice to make. What are they willing to give up? To trim back the size of the race, including money-spinning VIP areas, or its unique pastoral idyll? Jacob Whitehead It's been a high-octane, high-pressure opening two days of the race with nervous riders and stressed teams terrified to get caught on the wrong side of splits, or get involved in a crash, or miss their big shot at a stage win. Still, it was slightly peculiar to see Jonathan Milan completely blow his top after a minor altercation in the dash for, well, fifth place in an intermediate sprint. Advertisement Milan even won the sprint to pick up 11 points in the battle for the green jersey, pipping Tim Merlier and Biniam Girmay in a three-pronged dead heat. However, Milan was apoplectic with Girmay for leaving out a rigid elbow as the pair jostled for position a few yards from the line. Milan then responded by leaning into Girmay's line and even nicking his team-mate's wheel. After the pair sat up, Milan furiously gesticulated at Girmay, waving his arm and pinching his fingers against his thumb in a manner that can only be described as extremely Italian. Intermediate sprint drama with Jonathan Milan pushing Biniam Girmay off his teammate's wheel with 500m to go.#TDF2025 📺: Peacock — NBC Sports Cycling (@NBCSCycling) July 6, 2025 It was all a reflection not just on the remarkable intensity of the first couple of days, but also Milan's frustration at having dropped the ball on day one when missing the late split in the peloton. But it was also a bit daft — and summed up perfectly by Girmay's Intermarche-Wanty team on social media. Apparently Milan is not happy that Bini eats pizza with pineapples 🤷♂️ — Intermarché-Wanty (@IntermarcheW) July 6, 2025 The minor nature of the incident was only underlined further by a swift apology from Milan to Girmay at the end of the stage. Tim Spiers In the small hours of Sunday morning, Cofidis' riders were recovering from stage one at their base near Lille. Their workshop truck, parked nearby, had its door forced open — and 11 bikes stolen from its load. 'The Cofidis team strongly condemns this act of incivility and calls on the perpetrators to be civic-minded and responsible,' the team said in a statement. The modern peloton is a place of vast disparities — and Cofidis, as one of the poorest teams in the sport, are particularly vulnerable to what amounts to a theft worth well into five figures in euros. Advertisement It was only because their team is based in Bondues, just north of Lille, that the team was able to avoid serious difficulties and source bikes for the second stage. Jacob Whitehead Another stage for the pure sprinters, but the jeopardy will once again be provided by the possibility of crosswinds. GC teams will need to stay near the front because of this, which will once again make the closing kilometres extremely stressful.
