Mathieu van der Poel has won the second stage in the Tour de France on Sunday. The Dutchman beat Tadej Pogacar in the sprint and thus conquered the yellow jersey.
In the final of the stage to Boulogne-sur-Mer were three vicious climbs. These ensured the necessary spectacle. A considerably thinned peloton was then allowed to sprint for the stage victory. Van der Poel proved to have the strongest legs.
The thirty-year-old Dutchman from Alpecin-Deceuninck convincingly kept Pogacar behind him. Jonas Vingegaard came in third. Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic also finished in the front group.
Due to his stage victory, Van der Poel takes over the yellow leader’s jersey from his teammate Jasper Philipsen, who had won the opening stage on Saturday. Pogacar is second in the general classification. The Slovenian is six seconds behind ‘MVDP’.
Van der Poel achieved a stage victory in the Tour de France for the second time in his career. In 2021, he was the best on the Mûr-de-Bretagne. Back then, that also earned him the yellow jersey.
Vingegaard attack in final
Andreas Leknessund, Brent Van Moer, Yevgeniy Fedorov and Bruno Armirail tried it with a long flight on Sunday, but were hopeless. The quartet was caught more than 50 kilometers from the finish.
After the last of three climbs in the final, Vingegaard accelerated, but Evenepoel and Pogacar followed in the wake of the Dane. Also, a late attack by Roglic’ teammate Florian Lipowitz yielded nothing.
Ultimately, a group of 26 riders competed for the stage victory. Van der Poel waited patiently and placed a scorching acceleration in the ascending final meters. Pogacar came to his rear wheel, but had to acknowledge his superior in the Dutchman.
On Monday, the pure sprinters are back in charge. The third stage is flat and finishes in Dunkirk. The Tour de France lasts until Sunday, July 27.