Tour de France: with Mathieu van der Poel, a Poulidor finally in yellow

Tears gush from the depths of his bowels in uncontrolled waves and shake him with spasms.

Sitting on a chair in a makeshift tent, his head tilted on his knees, his hands on his face, the young man cries.

Around him, time has frozen.

Mathieu van der Poel is waiting for the yellow jersey he must put on on the official podium.

The sun has chased away the rain, a patch of blue sky colors the scene but it doesn't care.

He is beyond, very far, with his grandfather to whom he wanted so much to offer this golden tunic.

Like his grandson today, Raymond Poulidor discovered the Tour at the age of 26, but the most popular French champion, who died on November 13, 2019, has never donned the yellow finery.

“It's a shame he's not here, sobs the Dutchman.

It would have made a great photo.

It's hard.

“Her mother, Corinne, Poupou's daughter, is there, accompanied by her husband, Adrie van der Poel, the former runner who wore the longed-for one day jersey, on July 3, 1984.

💛 🇳🇱 @ mathieuvdpoel for his grandfather!

🏆 At Mûr-de-Bretagne, Poupou's grandson took the stage win and the famous Yellow Jersey!

🎬 Relive the 2nd stage of the # TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/p99asNeFUH

- Tour de France ™ (@LeTour) June 27, 2021

A family dedicated to cycling, threads reconnected by the Grande Boucle ... The story is beautiful and the tour de force of the Alpecin-Fenix ​​runner, who irresistibly stood out during the two climbs of the Mûr-de- coast. Brittany, suggests that he has not finished paying homage to his grandfather. From the first stage, Saturday, he had donned, with his teammates and the authorization of the International Federation, the yellow and purple outfit, that of the Mercier de Poulidor team in the 1960s, determined to win at the top of the Fosse aux Loups.

“But I didn't have the legs,” he explains.

I knew this time was my last chance to win this Yellow jersey, and since my legs were much better, I attacked as soon as I could.

And like Julian Alaphilippe the day before, he dominated his world, Tadej Pogacar, Primoz Roglic and all the others.

As he does so often in cyclo-cross, where he is a quadruple world champion (2015, 2019, 2020, 2021), or on the road, at the Amstel Gold Race in 2019, the Tour of Flanders in 2020 and the Strade Bianche in 2021.

The Olympics in the sights

How far will he go on this Tour? Mathieu van der Poel has not yet settled the issue. “Obviously, I would like to finish it, he slips. I plan to keep my yellow jersey until the time trial on Wednesday but no longer. We'll see what happens next. I don't want to ruin my chances for the mountain biking event at the Tokyo Olympics

(Editor's note: it takes place on July 26, eight days after the end of the Tour)

. I shouldn't have to dip into my reserves every day. If it's really too hard, it won't be possible, but if I manage to have quiet days, then I can hope to complete the Tour. "

In yellow, in gold, his dreams come in different terrains and continents, but they are almost all the same color. That of a blond head who transformed Julian Alaphilippe into a little green man. “Mathieu was disappointed on Saturday but he came to tell me that he was happy for me,” says the world champion. I did the same today (Sunday). He deserves it. "