Mûr-de-Bretagne (France) (AFP)
Second day on the Tour de France, first victory: the Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel won the second stage on Sunday at the finish on the hill in Mûr-de-Bretagne, and donned the yellow jersey which has always escaped his notice. grandfather Raymond Poulidor.
At 26, van der Poel made a resounding debut: he beat the Slovenian favorites on the Tour by 6 seconds, holding him Tadej Pogacar and his runner-up Primoz Roglic.
"I thought of course of my grandfather when crossing the line," responded the Dutchman, in tears, his face in his hands, thinking of the former French champion who died in November 2019.
To seize the symbolic jersey of the Tour, the Dutchman from Alpecin-Fenix attacked twice.
The first time to win the 8 seconds bonus at the top of the first climb of the Côte de Ménéhiez, the climb of Mûr-de-Bretagne (Côtes d'Armor).
The second time to win the stage.
Quadruple cyclo-cross world champion, + VDP + shines in different disciplines.
He excels as much on the road, winning classics, as in cross-country mountain biking, the discipline in which he will seek to win the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics this summer.
The day after the big falls of the first day, the breakaway of the day (Pérez, Theuns, Clarke, Koch, Schelling, Cabot) was launched in the first half hour of the race.
Between sun and rain, the Belgian Edward Theuns and the French Jérémy Cabot continued the adventure in the last 70 kilometers but the peloton returned before the first ascent of Mûr-de-Bretagne, at the entrance of the last 20 kilometers.
In the provisional general classification, van der Poel is 8 seconds ahead of the previous wearer of the yellow jersey, Julian Alaphilippe, 5th on the stage.
Pogacar, 3rd, is 13 seconds ahead of Roglic, 4th at 14 seconds.
Monday, the sprinters find for the first time a ground to their advantage.
The third stage, 182.9 kilometers long, links Lorient and Pontivy (Morbihan) for the penultimate day in Brittany.
© 2021 AFP