'I was on the limit' - Mathieu van der Poel retakes Tour de France lead by one second
The Dutchman is back in the yellow jersey after his stint in the break on stage 6, but it was a closer-run thing than anticipated. He knows, too, that Tadej Pogacar will be expected to take it back off him at Mur-de-Bretagne.
In the end, it was a closer run thing than he might have anticipated, but Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) did just enough to regain the yellow jersey from Tadej Pogačar on stage 6 of the Tour de France in Vire.
When Van der Poel was the highest-placed man on GC in the break that eventually established itself after a blistering start, the day’s script looked clear. Pogačar and Van der Poel might be friendly rivals in the Spring, but they have the look of allies of circumstance on this Tour.
It certainly would have suited UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Pogačar to loan the jersey out to Van der Poel and his Alpecin-Deceuninck squad for another day. Van der Poel began the day 1:28 off Pogačar’s lead, and when the break’s advantage stretched out beyond five minutes, there seemed little doubt about the destination of the yellow jersey.
The mood music changed in the finale, however. The break began to fragment after stage winner Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) forged clear with 42km remaining, and the rugged terrain began to take its toll too.
Van der Poel was already struggling on the final classified climb of the Côte de Vaudry, and he slowed dramatically on the last haul to the line in Vire, coming home eighth, 3:58 down on Healy. As per tradition on such days of all-out exertion, Van der Poel collapsed at the finish line in the manner of James Brown, waiting to learn if he had done enough to take back the maillot jaune.
Behind, however, the pace was rising in the GC group, and it was hard to shake off the feeling that Visma | Lease a Bike were riding partly to ensure Pogačar kept the weight of the jersey. The Slovenian himself was notably reticent to sprint for the line, though he eventually did lead the peloton home in ninth place, 5:27 down.
That meant Van der Poel did enough to take yellow by a solitary second, and he jokingly suggested to France Télévisions afterwards that he would also take the jersey back for a solitary day, given the tough finale to come at Mur-de-Bretagne on Friday.
“But even if it’s one second, it’s good to have it for another day,” said Van der Poel. “And riding up Mur-de-Bretagne in yellow means it’s going to be a good day.”
Van der Poel has impressed thus far on this Tour, winning at Boulogne-sur-Mer on stage 2 to take yellow and then placing second behind Pogačar in the stiff finale in Rouen on stage 5 before conceding the jersey in the Caen time trial.
The Dutchman looked the favourite from the day’s strong winning break when it formed, but he confessed that the hills, the heat and the residual fatigue of a high-octane start to the Tour all had an impact as the afternoon drew on.
“I think it was a combination of everything,” he said. “I didn’t have super legs, and with the heat, I was really on the limit.”
In 2021, Van der Poel won atop Mur-de-Bretagne on stage 2 to claim the yellow jersey, which he held for the remainder of the opening week. This time around, he is altogether less sure of his prospects of winning the stage and holding the jersey.
“It’s hard to say,” he said. “I think that if Tadej and Jonas [Vingegaard] go full gas tomorrow, then it’s going to be very difficult for the whole peloton. And for me, it’s going to be hard to find best legs again after the efforts of today. We’ll see.”
