• Mathieu Van der Poel won this Sunday during the second stage of the Tour de France at the top of the Mûr-de-Bretagne coast.

  • The Belgian prodigy seized the passage of the yellow jersey, stolen from Julian Alaphilippe.

  • He paid tribute to his grandfather Raymond Poulidor, who had never been able to wear the yellow jersey.

From our special correspondent in Mûr-de-Bretagne,

The story is magnificent and will continue to nourish the legend of the Tour de France.

Forty-five after the end of the career of Raymond Poulidor, who died in November 2019, his grandson Mathieu Van der Poel paid him the most beautiful tribute this Sunday.

For his first participation on the Tour, the Belgian prodigy won the boss ahead of Pogacar and Roglic at the top of the Mûr-de-Bretagne coast, one finger raised to the sky.

PHENOMENAL MATHIEU VAN DER POEL!

FINGER UP FOR HIS GRANDFATHER!

# TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/ubq1CgbtG8

- In the Musette (@DansLaMusette) June 27, 2021

There was of course the emotion of winning his first stage victory on the Grande Boucle.

But above all he managed to win a yellow jersey which had always escaped grandpa Poupou, the eternal second but yellow jersey in the hearts of the French.

"You can imagine a scenario like that but to realize it, it's just incredible, he blurted out in tears on arrival.

I imagine how proud he would have been, we would have taken a great photo together.

It is such a shame that he is not here with us ”.

One attack to grab seconds, another to atomize everyone

To wrest his success and dispossess Julian Alaphilippe of his yellow tunic for eight seconds, the Belgian prodigy delivered a tactical masterclass.

He first placed a first banderilla in the first of the two climbs of the Côte de Mûr-de-Bretagne to pocket eight seconds of bonus.

In the final climb, he then put the cover back 600 meters from the finish line, disgusting, like Alaph 'the day before, all his opponents.

🚴🏆💪 THE NUMBER OF MATHIEU VAN DER POEL!



The Dutchman wins solo at Mûr-de-Bretagne and takes the yellow jersey from Julian Alaphilippe # TDF2021



▶ Follow Vélo Club live: https://t.co/QPF83ta9gf pic.twitter.com/m21BXEyL7y

- France tv sport (@francetvsport) June 27, 2021

"I knew that it was my last chance today to grab the yellow jersey and that it was necessary for that to get the bonus seconds", indicated the rider of the Alpecin-Fenix ​​formation, estimating to have run " quite opportunistically ”.

The young Belgian also had the canes that he had so lacked the day before in the climb to the Fosse-aux-Loups.

“I was not 100% Saturday and there was also maybe a little stress, he assured.

But I immediately felt today from the start of the stage that I was well on my feet.

"

Alaphilippe had heavy legs

Conversely, Julian Alaphilippe, who had atomized the entire peloton on Saturday at Landerneau, had the heavy stumps.

"Mathieu was the strongest quite simply, he went for the stage and the yellow jersey, and he deserves it," said the French rider, no more disappointed than that to lose his tunic.

"I am now wearing the green jersey, I think I have worn all the distinctive jerseys since the start of the event," he laughed at the end of the stage.

Second overall, the French rider will have the opportunity to take back this yellow jersey which suits him so well Wednesday during the stopwatch between Changé and Laval, an exercise that he masters much better than his Belgian friend and rival.

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Van der Poel wins at the top of Mûr-de-Bretagne and takes the yellow jersey from Alaphilippe ... The second stage to be relived live

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