Van der Poel strikes immediately in Luxembourg on road racing return since Champs Élysées
Mathieu van der Poel made an immediate impact on his return to road racing, winning the opening stage of the Tour de Luxembourg on Wednesday.
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Racing on the road for the first time since the Champs Élysées, the Alpecin-Premier Tech rider showed he had lost little of his sharpness. The Dutchman attacked on the Côte de Stafelter late in the 157.7 kilometre stage, before still having enough left to win the uphill sprint in Luxembourg City.
A six rider breakaway had animated much of the day, but the peloton kept the gap under control as the decisive climbs approached. The final escapees were caught before the Stafelter, where gradients reaching double figures provided the first real launchpad for the favourites.
Van der Poel was quick to make his move. Pepijn Reinderink (Soudal Quick-Step) initially tried to follow, but another acceleration left only 21-year-old German continental rider Eike Behrens (Team Lotto Kern-Haus) able to stay with him over the top.
The pair opened a small gap, although Behrens left most of the work to Van der Poel. With Visma | Lease a Bike, EF Education-EasyPost and Soudal-Quick Step driving the chase behind, the move was eventually brought back 4km before the finish.
That did little to slow Van der Poel down.
Søren Kragh Andersen (Lidl Trek) was the first to make a move on the steep final drag to the line, but Van der Poel quickly responded before powering clear to take the victory ahead of Pierre Gautherat (Decathlon CMA CGM Team), with Marijn van den Berg (EF Education EasyPost) completing the podium.
