Mathieu van der Poel reflects on time trial after losing yellow jersey: "Something went wrong"

In 2021, Van der Poel managed to keep the yellow jersey until after the time trial with a strong performance, but he also knew that this year it would take a minor miracle to repeat this. “I hope so, but I also have to be realistic. Back then, I had more of a lead over the guys behind me, while Tadej is now on the same time,” Van der Poel said the day before.

Van der Poel eventually finished 18th in Caen, 1.44 minutes behind stage winner Remco Evenepoel of Soudal Quick-Step. Pogacar won 1.29 minutes on the Dutchman and took the yellow jersey, as Van der Poel had expected. The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider himself dropped to sixth place in the GC.

“An unforgettable time in yellow,” he wrote on Instagram, giving some insight into his time trial before the start of stage six. “I rode a very good time trial, better than expected in terms of values. And I finished eighteenth, so something went wrong. I knew I was going to lose the jersey, but with the watts I was riding, I was hoping for a slightly better time. I'll take the positives with me, which is that I had good legs.”

He showed those legs in the opening phase of stage six, competing for the green jersey points in the intermediate sprint for the first time and succeeding. Van der Poel then immediately joined the attack in the 'Swiss Normandy' hills, as they call the terrain in that part of France, where we will arrive on Thursday.

“It's a difficult day for the whole peloton,” said van der Poel. “The breakaway has a chance. I'm not sure how keen Pogacar is to keep the yellow jersey, but I think there's a chance for a breakaway. The course has 3,600 meters of climbing, which is quite tough.”