The Dutchman dominated the Perros-Gueirec – Mur-de-Bretagne stage. Van der Poel went clear during the first ascent of the Mur-de-Bretagne and gained the maximum number of bonus seconds. And then, to the amazement of everyone, he broke off on the second ascent again. His breathtaking acceleration speed brought him six seconds ahead of last year’s champion Tadej Pogačar who finished second. And with the stage win came the yellow jersey. He dedicated his win to his late-grandfather Raymond Poulidor who, ironically, finished second three times in the Tour’s general classification during his career but never wore the maillot jaune.
“It was my last chance to get it. I went for the first-time bonuses and I knew I had to win the stage. Not only win the stage but I had to have a small gap.” van der Poel said.
Pogačar finished second, followed by Primož Roglič, Julian Alaphilippe and Richard Carapaz.
Stage 2 results
- Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) 4:18:30
- Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) + 6 seconds
- Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma)
- Wilco Kelderman (Bora-Hansgrohe)
- Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck – Quick-Step) + 8 seconds
- Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo)
- Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma)
- Sergio Higuita Garcia (EF Education-Nippo)
- Pierre Latour (Fra) TotalEnergies
- Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious )
- Michael Woods (Israel Start-up Nation)
General Classification after stage 2
- Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) 8:57:25
- Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) 0:00:08
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 0:00:13
- Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) 0:00:14
- Wilco Kelderman (Bora-Hansgrohe) 0:00:24
- Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious) 0:00:26
- Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo)
- Sergio Higuita Garcia (EF Education-Nippo)
- Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma)
- David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ)
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