Tour de France: Van der Poel holds off Pogačar to win rainy stage 2

BOULOGNE-SUR-MER, France (AP) — 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 2 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-kilometer (130-mile) trek from Lauwin-Planque to Boulogne-sur-Mer in northern France.

The longest trek of this year’s race featured about 4 kilometers of climbing suited to allrounders 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 kilometers 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.

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 was barely recovered from a heavy race crash in Spain which 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.

Cycling family

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.

Monday’s stage

Stage 3 is a flat stage for sprinters, 178.3 kilometers 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.

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