The descendants of Poulidor are finally golden.
After lacking "legs" on Saturday, to compete for victory at the Fosse aux Loups, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) found some juice this Sunday and won at the top of Mûr-de-Bretagne.
The Dutchman also took the yellow leader's jersey at the expense of Julian Alaphilippe, fifth in this second stage of the Grande Boucle, between Perros-Guirec and Mûr-de-Bretagne Guerlédan (183km).
The winner of the day: Mathieu van der Poel
At 26 years old and for his first participation in the Tour de France, MVDP signed a prestigious success in a competition cherished by his late grandfather, Raymond Poulidor.
In homage to his grandfather, the Dutchman raised his finger to the sky by crossing the line, after having dropped his opponents at the cost of a big acceleration on the slopes of the final ascent.
WHAT A FINISH!
It's 🇳🇱 @mathieuvdpoel who claimed the win and the Yellow Jersey in exhilarating fashion.
Here's the last KM
What an exciting ending!
It's 🇳🇱 @mathieuvdpoel who wins the stage and the @MaillotjauneLCL! # TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/y35TqUeNMT
- Tour de France ™ (@LeTour) June 27, 2021
General movements: Pogacar and Roglic in ambush
Before going for the victory at the finish line, Mathieu van der Poel had cleverly attacked during the first ascent of Mûr-de-Bretagne to glean 8 precious bonus seconds, which finally secured him the yellow jersey.
Behind, Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) had recovered 5 ″ and Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) 2 ″.
MVDP is now at the top of the general classification with 8 ″ ahead of Julian Alaphilippe and 13 ″ over Tadej Pogacar.
Primoz Roglic (4th) is in ambush at 14 ″.
🏆 Rankings after stage 2 / Rankings after stage 2 🏆
The Jerseys and rankings following stage 2. ⬇️
Distinctive jerseys and rankings after stage 2. ⬇️ # TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/WPSOSm41Eb
- Tour de France ™ (@LeTour) June 27, 2021
The sentence of the day: "This is my first Tour and I would like to finish it"
After his victory, Mathieu van der Poel reminded everyone that beyond the Tour, his main objective for the season remains the Olympic Games.
The four-time cyclo-cross world champion dreams of a title in his favorite discipline, but the calendar will not allow him to reach Tokyo at 100% of his capacity.
Unless Poupou's grandson leaves the French roads prematurely ...
Image of the day: the fight for the polka dot jersey
If the high mountains are still far away, hostilities for the polka dot jersey have already started with vigor.
Saturday, Ide Schelling (Bora-Hansgrohe) had interfered in the breakaway in order to glean the maximum number of points to put on the tunic of the best climber.
Sunday, Anthony Perez (Cofidis) did the same to challenge him.
The two found themselves battling each of the first three climbs of the day.
Conclusion: 4 points for the German, 3 for the French and… the jersey for van der Poel, 4 points also after his arrival at the top of Mûr-de-Bretagne.
The dropouts of the day: Chris Froome and Marc Hirschi in difficulty
They had decided to take the start in Perros-Guirec, the day after the two terrible falls in which they had been caught.
Christopher Froome (Israel Start-Up Nation) and Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) logically suffered in a stage with a hilly profile.
Arrived respectively 134th (+ 9′06 ″) and 138th (11′21 ″), the Swiss and the British are very far in the general and strongly marked by the wounds.
The lowland stages that are looming will perhaps allow them to regain some strength, before attacking the strong percentages next weekend.
Distinctive jerseys: MVDP on all counts, green for Alaphilippe
While he has just completed his second career stage in the Tour de France, Mathieu van der Poel has had his fill by winning the yellow and polka dot jersey, which he should keep at least until the -wednesday watch. Stripped of his leader's tunic, Julian Alaphilippe can console himself with the green jersey he holds thanks to a lead of 16 points over MVDP and 21 over Michael Matthews (BikeExchange). Tadej Pogacar is once again on the right track to bring the best youngster's white jersey back to Paris. The Slovenian, winner of the 2020 Tour, is ahead of Sergio Higuita (EF Education Nippo) by 13 ″ at the end of this second stage.
