“I've said it many times in recent years, but I'm going to say it again"; Mathieu van der Poel almost suffered cramps

Van der Poel initiated a breakaway group of eight, from which Ben Healy ultimately took the stage win. “I participated in the intermediate sprint, but that took so much energy that it took me a long time to get back to the front. When I finally managed to do so, I saw the breakaway group leaving and decided to jump in.”

It was also new for him to sprint there. “The team insisted that I take part. They had seen on Tuesday that few riders were sprinting in the intermediate sprints. It's a pity to leave points lying around, and you never know what will happen in the second and third weeks. So it was more about staying among the riders,” Van der Poel said, lowering expectations.

"At first, I regretted being there because I was really at my limit. The yellow jersey wasn't really a goal; I mainly wanted to compete for the stage win. But that wasn't possible today. My legs hadn't recovered enough from the previous days," said Van der Poel, who will have to defend his yellow jersey on Friday on the Mur de Bretagne, and also mentioned this during his press conference.

Mathieu, was this one of the most challenging stages of your career?
"I've said it before in recent years, but I'll say it again. It was tough, and I was close to getting cramps, which I hardly ever get. So I could feel that it was tough, but I'm sure it was for everyone.

I did feel that I had already put in a lot of effort over the past few days. The classics are my specialty, and I hope that I can recover well now and win another stage in the rest of the Tour."

How was the cooperation in the group, because the other guys knew you had to go for it?
“Pretty good, actually. I think Ben was clearly the strongest, but behind him, everyone worked well together. Everyone was struggling, you could tell.”

Did you notice that Tadej was closing in on you?
"No, I didn't know. I didn't hear anything and was surprised that it was only a second. The last time difference I got was a lot bigger. But it was still close."

It was hot, and you mentioned earlier about the heat training you did. Did that help you?
“I didn't feel like it helped much. Unfortunately.” (laughs)

Has the green jersey become a goal?
“Not really, but the team said I had to be there. I'm not really thinking about it myself. In the sprint races this coming weekend, we'll also be going for Kaden Groves, so it was mainly important to be there now.”

You will defend your jersey on Friday at Mur de Bretagne. You have good memories of that place.
"I don't want to think about it yet. I had to dig deep, and I think it will be difficult to win there.

My victory there was four years ago. When you see how Pogacar and Vingegaard are riding here, I think the whole peloton will have a hard time if they want to go for it."