'Maybe the toughest stage I've ever won' - Van der Poel goes deep to open Tour account

Mathieu van der Poel may have struggled in the opening days of the Tour de France, but there were distinct signs of life in the lead-outs he provided for Alpecin-Premier Tech teammate Jasper Philipsen over the past two days.

The Dutchman had his own opportunity on the heatwave-shortened stage 9 to Ussel, and he made the most of it. Van der Poel was the key engine in a high-octane break that formed with a little under 100km to go, and he helped to ensure it stayed clear of a fast-closing yellow jersey group in the finale.

Although Van der Poel was forced to lead out the four-up sprint, he had too much power for Tobias Johannesen (Uno-X Mobility), Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) and Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost).

“It was a super hard day. The start of the Tour was not great for our team, but I think, like always, we stayed calm,” Van der Poel said. “We have a really nice group here and we kept believing that it will turn around. Maybe not today, maybe second week, maybe third week, but it’s really nice to go to the first rest day with a win.”

Van der Poel acknowledged that he had been hampered by the soaring temperatures through the opening weeks of the Tour, and he was unable to make an impression on the opening days, even on terrain that initially seemed amenable to his talents.

“It was for sure better today than the first few days,” he said. “I was really struggling then, and I also had some difficulties to recover even from the easier days. Already in the past few days I felt a bit better. Of course, they were easier days, but today I finally I had some legs to go for it.”

For much of the afternoon, Van der Poel also had the Lidl-Trek duo of Derek Gee-West and Quinn Simmons for company. In another year, that kind of firepower would have ensured the escapees built up a winning lead long before the finish, but a pursuit led by Tadej Pogacar’s UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad and Netcompany-Ineos meant that the escapees had just six seconds on the chasers at the finish. 

“I was not so sure, I spent a lot of energy trying to keep the break alive,” Van der Poel said of the final sprint. “There was a lot of pressure from the bunch. The roads were horrible for a breakaway, headwind the whole day. We really we fought for it and I’m happy to finish it off.

Van der Poel smiled when it was put to him that the win in Ussel was the beginning of a ‘Van der Poel festival’ on the Tour. “Maybe it’s a one-day festival but at least it was a nice one,” he said. 

It was the third Tour stage win of Van der Poel’s career after his triumphs at Mur-de-Bretagne in 2021 and Boulogne-sur-Mer a year ago.

“It is definitely special, it might be the toughest stage I have ever won,” Van der Poel told Dutch broadcaster NOS.

“It was an incredibly hard day. We were never really given much of a gap. I had also used quite a lot of energy trying to keep the breakaway out in front, and we just managed to make it.

“Fortunately, I have some experience in that kind of situation, so I knew exactly what I wanted to do in the sprint. 

“I simply launched my sprint at a point where I thought I would be able to hold it to the finish. But I was not completely sure. After such a hard day and with the heat, it was difficult, but I managed to keep turning the gear really well all the way to the line.”