Van den Berg powers to first win of 2026 as Van der Poel loses Luxembourg lead

After Van der Poel had opened the race with victory in Luxembourg City on Wednesday, the peloton faced a less selective but still demanding 167.1 kilometre second stage to Junglinster.

Five riders formed the day's early breakaway. Their advantage stretched to a little over two minutes, while Alpecin-Premier Tech took responsibility for controlling the race behind on behalf of yellow jersey Van der Poel.

The situation changed around 50 kilometres from the finish when ColoQuick pair Joshua Gudnitz and Sebastian Nielsen attacked from the peloton and bridged across to the leaders, joining team mate Conrad Haugsted at the front.

The Danish team eventually had three riders clear together, but the race began to open up behind them as the bigger teams increased the pressure.

Soudal Quick-Step split the peloton with around 20 kilometres remaining and initially caught Van der Poel out of position. The Dutchman was forced to work to regain contact before another move containing Dylan van Baarle (Soudal Quick-Step), Mikkel Honoré (EF Education-EasyPost), Per Strand Hagenes (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Stan Dewulf (Decathlon CMA CGM) briefly threatened to escape.

That group was neutralised before Sam Oomen (Lidl-Trek) accelerated and helped set up another dangerous attack. Søren Kragh Andersen (Lidl-Trek) went clear with Mattéo Vercher (TotalEnergies) and the pair managed to establish a useful advantage approaching the final kilometres.

Alpecin-Premier Tech, EF Education-EasyPost and Decathlon CMA CGM combined in the chase, however, and the two attackers were finally caught just before the final kilometre. A late attempt from Pepijn Reinderink (Soudal Quick-Step) also failed, setting up a reduced sprint on the rising road towards the finish.

Van den Berg committed early and never looked back.

The EF Education-EasyPost rider opened his sprint from distance and had enough power to keep his rivals behind all the way to the line, securing his first win of the season.

Kielich took second for Visma | Lease a Bike, with Gautherat (Decathlon CMA CGM) third and Jasper Stuyven (Soudal Quick-Step) fourth. Van der Poel could only manage fifth and missed out on the bonus seconds.

With the stage victory and the accompanying time bonus, Van den Berg also moved into the overall lead, taking the leader's jersey from Van der Poel after two stages.