Mathieu van der Poel also made his presence felt in the second stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné. The Dutchman got involved in the mass sprint on Monday, but had to settle for third place. Jonathan Milan won convincingly.
In the absence of the Belgians Tim Merlier and Jasper Philipsen, Milan was the top favorite in the largely flat stage to Issoire. The tall Italian was excellently positioned in the final kilometers by his teammates from Lidl-Trek.
Van der Poel, meanwhile, nestled himself in Milan’s wheel. The Dutchman is an all-rounder, but in flat sprints he usually limits himself to a lead-out for teammate Philipsen. This time, ‘MVDP’ decided to take a chance himself.
But when Milan put in his acceleration, Van der Poel knew what time it was. The leader of Alpecin-Deceuninck also had to avoid a helper of the stage winner and crossed the line in third place, behind number two Fred Wright. Both finished well behind Milan.
“He was clearly the fastest,” Van der Poel said immediately after the finish to Sporza. “I knew in advance that it would be very difficult, but I think it’s not bad for me to get involved in such a sprint once. I am satisfied.”
Milan Takes Jersey from Pogacar
Thanks to the time bonuses, Milan took the yellow jersey from Tadej Pogacar, who won the opening stage on Sunday. The Slovenian world champion did so after a late attack with Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel and Van der Poel.
The Critérium du Dauphiné lasts until Sunday. The French stage race is used by many riders as a preparation race for the Tour de France. At the Grand Départ on July 5 in Lille, Milan, Pogacar, Evenepoel, Vingegaard and Van der Poel will all be present.
Romain Bardet will no longer be there then. The 34-year-old Frenchman will say goodbye after the Dauphiné. He tried it on Monday with an attack on a climb in the final, but was caught again not much later. Tuesday’s hill stage starts in his birthplace Brioude.