Van der Poel wins for second time in Tour de France, beats Pogacar AND Vingegaard: "I was barely able to survive that"

He was the top favorite at the start, but the finale was brutally tough. “I had to dig so deep, all the way to my toes” Van der Poel sighed at the finish when speaking to NOS. “I didn’t really have a super day again, but thanks to the team I was perfectly positioned every time. I was barely survive that, each climb, but at the end, I was so motivated, and it had been so long since I last won a Tour stage that I really didn’t want to let this one slip away.”

His determination was clear to see. In the final 500 meters, the former world champion took the front and launched his sprint first. “Honestly, I didn’t mind that. I had studied the finale well. I knew whoever came out of that corner first had a good chance to win. I had hoped it would be a bit shorter after the corner, because my legs were filling with lactic acid and I saw a front wheel coming, but I just had enough to hold on.”

Pogacar nearly came alongside him, and Vingegaard also put up a strong fight. The fact that those two names are on the podium makes this victory even more special. “Yeah, definitely. People made me the favorite today, but if you look at who was up there, they’re all climbers. So I think I can be really proud of this.” With this second Tour stage win, Van der Poel now matches his father Adrie, who also claimed two stage victories in the Tour de France.

And just like with his first win, Van der Poel takes the yellow jersey as well. “If you win early enough in the Tour, there’s always a good chance you’ll get yellow,” he laughed. Jasper Philipsen couldn’t keep up on the steep hills, so the yellow jersey passes to his teammate. It doesn’t get much better than that, Van der Poel knows it too. “To take it over from Jasper… Yesterday, the Tour was already perfect, but today it’s even more so. It doesn’t get better than this. For me, everything is good, now"