Brest (AFP)

Grandson and son-in-law of Raymond Poulidor, the new yellow jersey Mathieu van der Poel and his father Adrie cultivated a "strong bond" with France long before the rider of the Alpecin team competed in his first Grande Boucle in 2021.

"Most of the holidays, summer and winter, we spent them in France," said Adrie, a former rider who competed in ten Tours between 1982 and 1992.

Never far from his bike, Mathieu "loved France for his holidays. There is everything: coasts, mountains, flat ... We were often in the Alps, even in summer, and sometimes we went to the Côte d'Azur ", remembers her father, married to Corinne Poulidor, the daughter of" Poupou ", who never wore the yellow jersey.

"The link is very strong" with France, confirms David van der Poel, Mathieu's brother.

"My grandfather's village (Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat, in the Haute-Vienne department) was a place that was very dear to us".

This is where the funeral of Poulidor, who died in November 2019, took place.

"The popularity that my grandpa had is thanks to that that people see me a bit like a Frenchman when I run here", underlined Mathieu van der Poel on the eve of the Grand Départ.

To evoke the relationship which united "Poupou" to his grandsons, David and his father use the same word: "intense".

- "For Mathieu and the bike" -

The 800 kilometers between Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat and Kapellen, the town in the suburbs of Antwerp where Adrie and Corinne have taken up residence, have a lot to do with it.

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"They only saw each other twice a year so when they saw each other, it was much more intense than when you see your grandfather every week," assures the former runner.

The link with France has also been woven over the summers spent on the roads of the Tour.

Once again this year, Adrie and Corinne planned to arrive this Sunday on the Tour, “for Mathieu” but also “as“ great cycling enthusiasts. ”Just in time to see their son triumph and put on the coveted jersey.

"I think I waited for the right day," smiled the latter at a press conference.

Despite their French roots and their attachment to the country, the van der Poel sons have chosen to represent the Netherlands and play in a Belgian team.

"It's because of cyclo-cross," recalls David van der Poel.

"When I was eighteen, I was noticed by the Belgian team (of the manager of Alpecin-Fenix) Philip Roodhooft. They offered me to ride for them as a hope. Mathieu joined me two years later in the same way ", explains his eldest (29 years old, against 26 for the youngest).

Since then, he has remained with Alpecin-Fenix, a Belgian Pro Tour team (second echelon of world cycling) of which he is the undisputed star.

On the flip side, he is sometimes more isolated in the final of a race than his great rivals Wout van Aert or Julian Alaphilippe, both members of powerful World Tour teams (the first division of cycling).

On Saturday, the world champion was taken by the blue train of the Deceuninck to the foot of the Fosse-aux-Loups on Saturday;

Sunday, VDP broke away alone in the two climbs of Mûr-de-Bretagne.

- French audience "demanding" -

French or Dutch, the public will probably not hold it against him to run for a Belgian team.

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"I think people just come to see the sport, to have an experience, and are able to support all the runners," said David van der Poel.

“The runners are never at home, they work a lot,” recalls Adrie.

"Mathieu is as much in Belgium as in France or the Netherlands, for him it's a bit the same I think".

In the trio of elite punchers, the Belgian van Aert rolls for a Dutch team and the French Alaphilippe for a Belgian team.

Beware of hasty relativism, however alert David.

"The French public is a little more demanding than the Dutch, maybe more emotional too."

"And then the Tour really means something to the French!"

© 2021 AFP