Confusion in finale leaves Van der Poel settling for third

Mathieu van der Poel came close to taking a second stage win at the Tour de France on Wednesday, but he ended up in a forlorn solo chase into Toulouse.

The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider attempted to chase down a leading duo, but eventually finished third, behind Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) and second-placed Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla) after attacking a group chasing a leading breakaway on the day’s final climb, the Côte de Pech David. 

Calling the race situation confusing, after the stage Van der Poel revealed he thought his move had taken him to the front of the race, and he was riding for the win as he crested the climb.

"I thought the group I overtook was also the breakaway, but then, thanks to the bikes in the distance, I realised there were still riders ahead of us,” he told Dutch media at the finish.  "I only heard late that there were still two riders ahead. It's a shame.

“Radio communication has been difficult for a while now because of all those transmitters. They glitch every now and then,” he explained.

Van der Poel has had a successful and active race so far. Not only has he now finished in the top 10 on three occasions, but victory in Toulouse would have been a second stage success after he won on day two in Boulogne-sur-Mer. That win saw him take the race leader’s yellow jersey, which he subsequently lost, but reclaimed after an epic day in another breakaway on stage six. While he is highly unlikely to get it back again, he again proved his endeavour is undimmed on Sunday when he was caught in the closing kilometre after another day-long escape. 

Van der Poel started Wednesday’s stage suffering from a slight cold, but even that failed to stop him. With the five-man break containing Abrahamsen and Schmid well up the road, Van der Poel followed a move containing some of the GC favourites, which was reduced to five when they slipped back.

With Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike), Arnaud De Lie (Lotto), Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) and Axel Laurance (Ineos Grenadiers), they set about closing a 50-second gap, but seemed to get stuck 30 seconds back. Eventually, the race exploded on the penultimate climb, Simmons attacking the same time as Abrahamsen and Schmid moved clear at the front. 

"I wasn't really at my best at the beginning. I'd told the team they could race with me, but eventually I got to the front of the race and saw it happening, so I was able to keep up.”

"I didn't really feel like I had anything left in my legs when Quinn Simmons attacked the penultimate climb. When Wout reacted, I was really at my limit. On the intermediate section leading to the final climb, I tried to recover a bit, but I didn't expect anything to come of it on that last climb.”