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.
Advertisement
'I hope I can keep the jersey until the time trial (on Wednesday),' Van der Poel said '(After that) it will be very hard.'
Get Starting Point
A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.
Enter Email
Sign Up
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.
Advertisement
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.
Advertisement
This race is entirely in France, with no stages held abroad as in previous years, and ends July 27 in Paris.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Titleist updates T100 irons with more long-iron launch and tighter spin control
The new T100 irons deliver improved long-iron launch and spin consistency while keeping the classic forged feel Tour players trust. Gear: Titleist T100 irons (2025) Price: $1,499 (7-clubs) with True Temper AMT Tour White shafts and Titleist Universal 360 grips. Specs: Forged multi-material head with dual-cavity construction with variable thickness face, internal tungsten weights and progressive grooves. Available: July 10 (pre-order and fittings), August 21 (in stores) Who it's for: Better players who prioritize precision, consistency, and turf interaction, especially those who demand control across a variety of conditions. What you should know: The latest T100 irons bring subtle changes aimed at improving long-iron launch, tightening dispersion, and enhancing performance from the rough—all while maintaining the classic profile that has made T100 the most played iron on the PGA Tour since 2019. The Deep Dive: When it comes to elite-level forged irons, Titleist's T100 has earned a reputation among the company's staff players as a benchmark. Introduced in 2019 to replace the AP2 irons, T100 was quickly adopted by many elite golfers and has been an anchor in brand's tour-level lineup ever since. Knowing that, you can understand why Titleist didn't reinvent the wheel with this update—but it did refine a few spokes. The enhancements made to the updated T100 irons align with the same overarching goals that designers were tasked with for the entire T-Series: create higher launching long irons, more consistent spin in the scoring clubs, and better carry distance control throughout the set. To achieve this, Titleist designers added a muscle channel to the 3- and 4-irons, which lowers the center of gravity and raises peak height without compromising feel or trajectory control. The 3-iron through 7-iron have also been created with a new Variable Face Thickness (VFT) designed to help preserve ball speed on slight mishits. Is the T100 as forgiving as the T250 or T350—absolutely not—but the variable thickness face provides a touch of help without reducing feedback or control. From a spin standpoint, more aggressive, steeper-walled grooves in the 7-iron through pitching wedge help retain spin from the rough and in damp conditions. It's a small change, but for skilled players who like to work the ball or attack tucked flags, it could make a difference. The dual-cavity construction and high-density tungsten weights in the heel and toe area are carry-over features from previous generations, but they still help to maintain stability and control across the face without making the T100 irons larger. One detail that won't go unnoticed by fitters and gearheads: the lofts on the new T100 are now one degree stronger than the previous generation. That brings the 5-iron to 26 degrees, the 7-iron to 33 degrees and the pitching wedge to 45 degrees—still well within 'player's iron' territory—but strong enough to address the feedback Titleist received from both PGA Tour and LPGA players. The looks in the address position have not changed: thin topline, minimal offset, clean sole. This is still very much a Tour iron at its core. Ludvig Åberg, Jordan Spieth, Russell Henley, and Justin Thomas (who uses the T100 in his blended set) have all put the new model in play. T100 vs. T150 If you're wondering whether you fit better into the T100 or T150, here's the breakdown: The T100 is all about control and feel, while the T150 is built to be a touch faster and more forgiving. The two irons share many design elements, including the new VFT face, progressive grooves, and dual-cavity chassis, but the T150 is slightly larger and has one-degree stronger lofts across the board. It also features a more pronounced muscle channel long irons through the 7-iron, making it better suited for players who need help launching the ball higher or generating a bit more speed. That said, the two irons are designed to blend seamlessly. Elite players could benefit from using T150s in the long irons for added launch and T100s in the scoring clubs for control.
New York Times
3 hours ago
- New York Times
PSG: the best club team in the world, USMNT's home fans problem, Hampton wonder pass
The Athletic FC ⚽ is The Athletic's daily football (or soccer, if you prefer) newsletter. Sign up to receive it directly to your inbox. Hello! In case there was any doubt, Paris Saint-Germain are No 1. On the way: 👊 PSG destroy Madrid 🧑🤝🧑 How to pull a USMNT crowd 🤩 Keeper's genius pre-assist 🟥 First straight red in 539 games Do you recall the evening in 2023 when, at the sharp end of the Champions League, Manchester City sliced and diced Real Madrid? Cut them to pieces and reduced Luka Modric to a sad, haunted, thousand-yard stare? Yesterday's game wasn't exactly like that 4-0 win because, however much it tries to tell itself otherwise, FIFA's Club World Cup isn't rivalling the Champions League for Holy Grail status. But watching Paris Saint-Germain deconstruct Madrid by the same scoreline, and with the same cold, hard excellence, brought back memories of that obliteration against City. I thought the tournament's second semi-final would be a marker for Madrid as they transition from Carlo Ancelotti to Xabi Alonso. Instead, it was a fresh demonstration of PSG's mounting supremacy, which really does deserve some reflection: Many of the sides involved in the Club World Cup have looked hot, bothered and ready for a rest. That was Madrid at the MetLife Stadium yesterday. PSG? They couldn't look fresher, and I wouldn't hold out much hope for Chelsea in Sunday's final. PSG are where Madrid want to be, and where Madrid think they belong: at the top of the tree. Having seen what's under the hood, head coach Alonso knows they're a good few branches down. He's not a fantasist. They trailed 3-0 in New Jersey before they'd worked up a sweat. There aren't the words to describe the state of their defending, or none we can publish. Raul Asencio sold the first goal with some dopey hesitation. Antonio Rudiger sold the second by kicking their air rather than the ball (above). You can play well against PSG and take a hiding. Play like Madrid did and you're asking to be demolished. Advertisement I sympathise with Alonso because the handover from Ancelotti wasn't ideal. Madrid have been on a downward slope, and he didn't even receive the courtesy of a quiet summer to bed in. Twenty-four days after his appointment, he was pitched into the most drawn-out of club tournaments in the States. Last night was the end of the glorious Modric-Madrid era and when Alonso said he was 'starting from scratch', it genuinely did feel like that. It might have passed you by, but the qualifying rounds of UEFA's European club competitions got underway this week. That's right: season 2025-26 is starting before the Club World Cup has signed 2024-25 off. Football, as Stuart James says, is virtually a 12-month calendar. Madrid's defeat against PSG was their 68th competitive match of the current campaign (if we can call it current, the lines are blurry). There's almost no room left to fill in the fixture list, but you know somebody out there will try. Players and their unions keep talking about going on a strike in protest against the congestion. It's a perfect time to roll out a quote from the late, great Michael Madsen, who died on July 3: 'Are you gonna bark all day, little doggie, or are you gonna bite?' A predominantly Mexican crowd at Sunday's Concacaf Gold Cup final was, when you think about it, entirely logical. Mexico is mad about football. Houston, where the final took place, isn't so far from the U.S.'s southern border. The city has a large and passionate Latino population. But it must grate on the USMNT squad that even on a night so big, Americans aren't climbing over each other to bag tickets and level the playing field off the pitch. The squad have a solid following, no question, but the atmosphere in the stadiums where they play can make them feel like visitors in their own home. At points on Sunday, they were heavily booed by the 70,925-strong crowd. Advertisement Melanie Anzidei has written about the limited levels of match-going engagement, and it's something U.S. Soccer has to confront before the World Cup next year. As head coach Mauricio Pochettino put it: 'We need people. We need the fans — to be in the stadium, to support, not only through Instagram, social media, or behind the TV, to translate the energy. Football without fans? It's impossible.' Pochettino doesn't need to be told that his USMNT aren't performing in a way that draws an audience, but soccer fandom in his current job isn't like it was in his previous roles. Melanie rightly points out that it's not a new phenomenon, or one without reasons behind it, but it will take some work to achieve what the 2026 World Cup was meant to do for football in America: fully capture the imagination. 💫 The run from Hemp ⚽️ The finish from James 🏴 England put on a clinic against the Netherlands — ITV Football (@itvfootball) July 9, 2025 Women's European Championship: Group A (3pm/8pm): Finland vs Switzerland; Norway vs Iceland — both Fox Sports/BBC. Thanks to reader Paul Grangaard for tipping us off about this one. Omar Gonzalez is a defender at Chicago Fire. His career is into its 17th season, and 539 games deep. According to U.S. Soccer, he'd never received a straight red card (some would say that's pitiful for a centre-back) — until Tuesday, when he livened up a U.S. Open Cup tie against Minnesota United by jabbing Julian Gressel in the nether regions and then crunching him in the jaw. To give Gonzalez his due, if a proud run is going to end, it might as well end in style. The Fire's 3-1 defeat was on him.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Dembélé joins PSG's elite list
With a performance worthy of a European champion, PSG swept aside Real Madrid with a stunning 4-0 win on Wednesday night, sealing their place in the Club World Cup final. Ousmane Dembélé was on target for the Parisians, scoring one of the four goals in a dominant display that not only helped his team but also placed him in elite company among PSG's all-time scorers. The 28-year-old French forward notched his 35th goal of the season across all competitions, becoming just the fifth player in PSG's history to hit that milestone in a single campaign. Advertisement Dembélé now finds himself in exclusive company, joining a legendary group that includes Carlos Bianchi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani, and Kylian Mbappé. Carlos Bianchi was the first to etch his name into this prestigious list. Despite spending only two seasons in Paris, the Argentine forward, who played over 500 games in his career, scored an impressive 39 goals in his debut season at the club in 1977/78. Zlatan Ibrahimovic went on to raise the bar even higher. During his four seasons at PSG, the Swede surpassed the 35-goal mark three times. In 2012/13, he netted exactly 35 goals; in 2013/14, he upped that to 41; and in 2015/16, he enjoyed his most prolific season ever, scoring 50 goals in just 51 matches. Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani wore the PSG shirt for seven seasons and delivered back-to-back campaigns with more than 35 goals. In 2016/17, he found the net 49 times, followed by 40 goals in 2017/18. Advertisement Then there's Kylian Mbappé, who also spent seven seasons in Paris. He hit the 35-goal mark five times: in 2018/19 and from 2020/21 through to 2023/24. PSG's emphatic victory over Los Blancos sets up a mouth-watering final against Chelsea. And with the chance to crown a historic season, Dembélé will be looking to add to his tally and further cement his place in PSG's history books.
