Mathieu van der Poel came very close to a phenomenal stage win in the ninth stage of the Tour de France on Sunday. The Dutchman rode in the attack all day with Jonas Rickaert, because his Belgian teammate had a dream.
Van der Poel and Rickaert ensured that a sprint stage, which was boring on paper, became a thriller. The duo from Alpecin-Deceuninck rode over 160 kilometers in the attack. Van der Poel was only caught by the peloton at 750 meters from the finish in Châteauroux.
The former world champion said afterwards that he had started the very surprising action in service of his loyal servant Rickaert. “Jonas had a dream to one day be on a Tour podium, with the prize for combativity,” Van der Poel told the NOS. “I wanted to help him with that today.”
The stage win was not the goal when the teammates started from the start, but during the ride a victory suddenly became realistic. Van der Poel and Rickaert together reached an average speed of almost 50 kilometers per hour and took a lead of almost six minutes on the peloton.
In the last 10 kilometers, the margin was still a minute. Rickaert couldn’t go any further, after which Van der Poel continued solo. Just before the finish he was caught and Tim Merlier sprinted to victory. “I never really believed that it would succeed,” said Van der Poel. “But in the end I hoped that it would lead to something. And not to be caught with the finish in sight.”