Mathieu Van der Poel holds off Tadej Pogačar to win rainy second stage of Tour de France
🤩 Quand tu donnes absolument tout pour remporter l'étape ! Encore bravo
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour)
He intends to wear yellow a little longer yet.
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'I hope I can keep the jersey until the time trial (on Wednesday),' Van der Poel said '(After that) it will be very hard.'
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Stage 2 was delayed by about 15 minutes after team buses arrived late to their parking spots because of heavy morning rain. Fans lined the roads wearing raincoats and riders wore light jackets amid wet and blustery conditions on the slightly hilly 209-kilometer (130-mile) trek from Lauwin-Planque to Boulogne-sur-Mer in northern France.
The longest trek of this year's race featured about 4 kilometers of climbing suited to allrounders like the three-time Paris-Roubaix classic winner Van der Poel and former Cyclo-cross star Wout van Aert.
Greasy roads increased the risk of spills and a strong headwind greeted riders approaching the finish as they took on the day's three consecutive climbs — short and sharp but very modest ones compared to the giant Alpine and Pyrenean ascents later in the three-week race.
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None of the main Tour contenders could launch a decisive attack, although Vingegaard tried with 5 kilometers left.
Instead, it was Van der Poel — nicknamed 'The Flying Dutchman' — who surged clear and then withstood Pogačar's late burst, having also beaten the Slovenian star at Paris-Roubaix in April.
💪 A change of atmosphere on the
▶️ Here's a summary of stage 2!
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour)
Van der Poel crossed the line in 4 hours, 45 minutes, 41 seconds with Pogačar in second place and Vingegaard in third recording the same time.
Pogačar misjudged his attack, a rare mistake for him.
'Mathieu was stronger in the final sprint, so chapeau to him,' Pogačar said. 'To be honest I messed up a little bit, because I got a bit scared to sprint against him and I waited too long on his wheel.'
In the overall standings, Pogačar is four seconds behind Van der Poel. Vingegaard is another two seconds back.
Four-time Spanish Vuelta winner Primož Roglič — the 2020 Tour runner-up from Slovenia — and double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel had both lost time on Saturday after being caught in a late crosswind.
They did not lose further time Sunday to Pogačar and Vingegaard, who enters this year's Tour in better shape.
Last year, the Dane was barely recovered from a heavy race crash in Spain which left him with a collapsed lung, several broken ribs and a broken collarbone. He finished the Tour in second place but could not match Pogačar in big climbs.
🏆 Rankings after stage 2
🏆 Classements après l'étape 2
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour)
Monday's Stage 3 is a flat stage for sprinters, 178.3 kilometers from Valenciennes to the coastal city of Dunkerque.
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This race is entirely in France, with no stages held abroad as in previous years, and ends July 27 in Paris.
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