Cycling: Mathieu van der Poel won the second stage of the Tour de France. The Dutchman triumphed after 209,1 kilometers in Boulogne-sur-Mer, ahead of world champion Tadej Pogacar.
Van der Poel climbs into the yellow jersey
After 209,1 kilometers from Lauwin-Planque to Boulogne-sur-Mer, the hoped-for duel of the giants took place. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin – Deceuninck) won the uphill sprint ahead of Tadej pogacar (UAE – XRG). Third place was somewhat surprisingly achieved by jonas vingegaard (Visma – Lease a Bike). The Dane isn't usually used to such finals. But today he proved that he's wide awake and in good shape. Van der Poel thus secured his team, Alpecin – Deceuninck, its second consecutive victory, following Philipsen's victory yesterday. Thanks to the time bonus, he also takes over the yellow jersey from his teammate.
Four brave escapees without a chance
In heavy rain, a group of four broke away from the main field right at the start of the race. Bruno Armirail (Decathlon – AG2R La Mondiale), Brent Van Moer (Lot), Yevgeny Fedorov (XDS – Astana) and Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility), however, only made it to 50 kilometers before the finish before being caught again. At least: Norwegian Leknessund won the mountain prize on the Côte de Cavron-Saint-Martin, and the sprint classification in Énocq went to Kazakh Fedorov. Consequently, the pros only sprinted from the field for fifth place. Nevertheless, the intermediate classification was hotly contested. Barely visible to the naked eye, jonathan milan (Lidl – Trek) wafer-thin Tim Merlier (Soudal – Quick Step) and Biniam Girmay (Intermarché – Wanty). Interestingly, Merlier didn't participate in the intermediate sprint yesterday. Today, he was fully committed.
Many attacks in the final
Up the Côte du Haut Pichot wout van aert (Visma – Lease a Bike) increased the pace. Over the crest, there were some splits in the field, but with almost 30 kilometers to go until the finish, the pace calmed down again. The finale finally opened in the Côte de Saint-Étienne-au-Mont. Once again, it was the Visma – Lease a Bike team that increased the pace. A nine-man group then broke away, including the three top favorites for the overall victory, but also Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin – Deceuninck) was there. However, some groups rejoined up to the Côte d'Outreau. Matteo Jorgenson (Visma – Lease a Bike), Kevin Vauquelin (Arkéa – B&B Hotels) and alexey lutsenko (Israel – Premier Tech) initially a trio broke away. But the gap was closed again. 2,0 kilometers before the finish, Florian Lipowitz (RB – Bora – hansgrohe) had a heart. The German attacked and rode solo in the final kilometer. But Team UAE – XRG was not looking for any presents and closed this gap in time.
| Mathieu van der Poel! Phenomenaal! The Nederlander won the two stages and pact of gele trui in Boulogne-sur-Mer. #TourdeFrance
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