Tour de France 2025: Mathieu van der Poel sprints to stage two victory and into yellow jersey
Tour de France
into Boulogne-sur-Mer for Alpecin-Deceuninck, claiming the race lead from his team-mate Jasper Philipsen after a quick succession of short climbs inside the final kilometres exploded the peloton on the approach to the Channel port.
The Dutchman thwarted Tadej Pogacar's attempt to take the 100th win of his career, outsprinting the defending Tour champion on the steady final climb of the Boulevard Auguste Mariette.
'The final was actually harder than I thought,' said Van der Poel. 'I was really motivated. It's four years since I won my first stage on the Tour, so it was about time I won a second one.'
It was a much-improved day for the two Irish riders.
Eddie Dunbar
finished the stage 48th to climb to 84th in the General Classification, while
Ben Healy
was close behind in 52nd to jump to 42nd in the GC.
READ MORE
Philipsen, who had started the stage in the yellow jersey after winning stage one to Lille on Saturday, was distanced in the closing kilometres and Van der Poel took the race lead from the Belgian sprinter.
'People said I was a favourite, but if you see which riders were in front, on the climbs, I did a really good job today to be there,' said Van der Poel. 'The climbs were harder than I expected and [ridden at] a hard pace. It was a nervous day again.'
Pogacar's main rival, Jonas Vingegaard of Visma Lease-a-bike, followed the Slovenian across the finish line, with the Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel distanced on Saturday's stage, showing greater vigilance to also finish in the front group.
Primoz Roglic, only a year ago characterised as one of the Tour's 'big four', finished in the lead group after ceding ground in Lille, but has done little so far to dispel the impression that he has relinquished any lingering hopes of contending for the overall title.
The Slovenian is the winner of the Vuelta a España four times and also the Giro d'Italia in 2023, but told the media as the race began that he 'didn't really care' and just wanted to 'make it to Paris for a glass of champagne'. He has been anonymous so far.
The 35-year-old was, with his Bora Hansghrohe team-mate Florian Lipowitz, among those who missed Saturday's decisive split in the front group on the fast approach to Lille. 'The guys were asleep,' Roglic's sports director Enrico Gasparotto said of their costly error on the opening stage. 'We talked about that stretch, the wind and the related dangers, but they were surprised.
'We are all aware of the opportunity we wasted: Roglic and Lipowitz lost the chance to gain time on Remco. We learned an important lesson.'
Worse befell the hapless French rider Benjamin Thomas, who crashed on Saturday's stage while fighting his compatriot Matteo Vercher for a single point in the mountains classification on Mont Cassel, and woke on Sunday morning to the news that his bike, along with 10 others from the Cofidis team, worth about €140,000, had been stolen from their vehicles overnight.
Ineos Grenadiers are also already on the back foot, having lost the time-trialling powerhouse Filippo Ganna to a concussion on stage one, while their team leader Carlos Rodríguez and the 2018 Tour winner Geraint Thomas both missed the decisive break in Saturday's dramatic finale in Lille.
Rodríguez and Thomas lost a further 31 seconds to the front group on the run-in to Boulogne-sur-Mer, and are now one minute 16 seconds behind Pogacar after the opening weekend.
Monday is another day but there is yet another tricky stage to come, through the Nord and towards the Channel, this time to Dunkirk, in which the cobbles of Mont Cassel and the crosswinds off the sea will again play their part. – Guardian
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Irish Sun
4 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Tour de France prankster who invaded track LAID OUT in enormous crash after being tackled by police
POLICE and security were forced to tackle a 'prankster' who invaded the track at the Tour de France, just moments before the stage's conclusion. The end of stage 17 almost ended in calamity when a spectator leapt over the boardings with his bike and tried to ride across the finish line. 11 An individual dressed in cycling gear broke on to the Tour de France track during stage 17 Credit: AP 11 Security and staff tried to knock the man off his bike by the finish line Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 11 A police officer was eventually able to tackle him Credit: AFP 11 The man and officer both fell to the ground Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 11 The 'prankster' appeared to be injured Credit: AP 11 He was dragged off the road to avoid calamity with the race following close behind Credit: AP The unknown individual was dressed in full gear so as to look like a team rider, but was immediately spotted by onlookers. The man was wearing a Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale jersey. Images released of the incident show that the man managed to cross the finish line before he was tackled by a police offer and fell off his bike and to the ground. He was then quickly removed from the track in order to clear a pathway for the fast-approaching leaders who were due to follow soon after. READ MORE CYCLING NEWS SunSport have contacted the Tour de France for comment. It's not the first time that there have been issues on the track at this year's Tour either. Security had to leap in front of a pro-Palestine protestor who had made their way onto the track during stage 11 of the race. The track-invader sprinted down the race course with his hands in the air just 25 metres from the finish line of the stage last Wednesday, with riders cycling past as it happened. Most read in Cycling 11 A pro-palestine protestor interrupted stage 11 of the Tour de France Credit: Reuters 11 The protestor was slammed into the boardings Credit: Tiktok/@laurab974.___ CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS The protestor was wearing a t-shirt that read: "Israel out of the Tour." He also held a keffiyeh, a black-and-white checkered headdress and pro-Palestine symbol. Sir Jim Ratcliffe's Ineos team car CRASHES into fan and sends them flying in air in shocking scenes at Tour de France The individual was tackled, thrust against the boardings and hauled off the road by security. Other fan incidents at this year's Tour de France have included an Fortunately today's incident didn't cause any crashes. However, pouring rain in the final 30km of the 60.4km stage from Bollene to Valence did cause a crash of its own. With just 1km left to go a mass crash took out Tim Merlier and Biniam Girmay, opening the door for Jonathan Milan to claim his second stage victory of this year's Tour. Speaking after the win, Milan said: "This is a really fantastic team victory and I have to thank them from the bottom of my heart. "I survived with the help of my team-mates. Without this, I would not be here. They delivered me in the best position [for the finish]." 11 An Ineos car hit a spectator during stage 14 of the tour Credit: X 11 Jonathan Milan was the winner of Stage 17 Credit: Getty 11 He wound up victorious following a mass crash within 1km of the finish line Credit: AFP
The 42
5 hours ago
- The 42
Milan wins crash-marred sprint as Tour approaches Alpine end game
ITALY'S JONATHAN MILAN escaped a spectacular pile-up of flying bikes and bodies to win stage 17 of the Tour de France in lashing rain on Wednesday, extending his lead in the sprint points race. Overall leader Tadej Pogacar, his closest rival Jonas Vingegaard (4:15 behind), and Ireland's Ben Healy — who remains ninth in the general classification — finished safely despite a mass fall 800m from the finish line at Valence at the foot of the Alps. On the rain-slick roads at Valence once one rider had fallen his interminable slide across the tarmac sent riders flying like skittles leaving only 10 to contest the sprint. Advertisement This was a second stage win for Milan, who won Italy's first stage since 2019 on stage eight. The 24-year-old Lidl Trek rider now has 312 points, and is in a powerful position to win the battle for the green jersey in Paris as Pogacar is second at 240 with only two possible sprints left at 50pts each. - Alpine peaks loom large - As the remaining 164 riders embarked from the sleepy Provence village of Bollene, the collective will of the peloton made for a slow approach of the Alps. Billed as a sprinters stage on an unusually mild (22C) day the riders were also spared the 50kph winds that had been forecast. But the rain deprived the stage of a full bunch sprint due to the horrid fall. Attention now turns to three massive climbs culminating with the ascent to the 2304m altitude Col de la Loze on stage 18 will sort the wheat from the chaff on Thursday's Queen stage. – © AFP 2025
Irish Examiner
7 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Healy stays ninth as Milan wins second stage
Jonathan Milan won a rain-soaked sprint finish in Valence to take his second stage win in this year's Tour de France, after a treacherous finish from which race leader Tadej Pogacar, and nearest rival Jonas Vingegaard, both emerged unscathed. Ireland's Ben Healy remains ninth overall, 17:52 down on Pogacar, after finishing 37th on the stage. In what was probably the final stage of the 2025 Tour suited to the sprinters, others were not so fortunate after a downpour made the final kilometres through surburban Valence horribly greasy. When the inevitable touch of wheels came it took down half a dozen riders, including stage three winner Tim Merlier, and Biniam Girmay, winner of the points classification in 2024, who somersaulted down the wet road into the barriers. As Milan celebrated his stage win, a predictable backlash was gathering pace against race leader Pogacar with just four days of racing to come, as Jean-René Bernaudeau, manager of the Total Energies team, accused the Slovenian's UAE Team Emirates XRG squad of arrogance. 'They're arrogant towards those who just want to live simply alongside them,' the Frenchman said of Pogacar's team. 'I expect their team manager to make that point to them.' Pogacar was dismissive of the Frenchman's comments. 'Arrogance is something, trying to win the Tour de France is another thing. I think a lot riders would see us as arrogant because we want to control every single kilometre of this race. We don't try to be arrogant, we just try to make our race as easy as possible. I think – this will sound super arrogant – but some guys can stay quiet.' On a day in which pro-Palestinian activists waved flags and unfurled banners in Dieulefit as the Tour peloton passed through, Pogacar was also questioned about his feelings on human rights in the UAE. 'I ride for UAE Team Emirates and if you go there, you'll see how the sport is growing,' Pogacar said. 'Kids love us, the locals love us when we ride with them. The sport is growing in the UAE, which I guess is why they have the team, to promote a healthy lifestyle.' The roadside protest in Dieulefit saw houses draped with Palestinian flags and there were reports of protesters holding up 'Starving is Killing' banners as the riders passed through. The town was honoured for sheltering Jewish people during the second world war. Last Wednesday a protester ran onto the finish line in Toulouse, wearing a T-shirt stating 'Israel out of the Tour.' He was tackled by Tour staff and is scheduled to stand trial for endangering the riders. After that incident, the Israel-Premier Tech team said that it 'respects everyone's right to free speech which includes the right to protest.' If Pogacar remains in a league of his own, with Vingegaard clinging to his coat tails, the battle for the final podium spot is likely to become intense in the next 48 hours, with Scotland's Oscar Onley currently the meat in a Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe sandwich. The German team's Tour debutant Florian Lipowitz is currently securely placed third overall, with Onley two minutes behind. But his teammate, Primoz Roglic, the most insouciant Grand Tour champion in the race, has now crept into the top five. Not everyone has been thrilled to see Roglic's re-emergence over the past few stages. 'Won't be buying Red Bulls anymore,' Onley said on Strava, after the Slovenian moved to 38 seconds behind him, following the Mont Ventoux finish. 'Not funding those attacks.' Meanwhile, volatile weather is predicted for the two remaining mountain stages, Thursday's high altitude finish on the Col de la Loze, at 2,304 metres and Friday's climb to the ski station at La Plagne, topping out at 2,o52 metres. As rain fell heavily on Valence and the Rhone valley, Francois Lemarchand, of race organisers ASO, said that change was in the air. 'A few days of cooler weather are coming and we could see a swing of 20 degrees. It will go from very hot to very cold, from one day to the next.' Guardian
