Huub Artz and Liam Slock steal the Tour de France show: ‘I can’t put myself alongside Van der Poel’
CyclingSaturday, 11 July 2026 at 18:48
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Follow us on GoogleThe Netherlands has already celebrated a stage victory at this Tour de France, courtesy of Olav Kooij in the sprint. However, anyone looking at the level of attention in the mixed zone after Stage 8 on Saturday would have seen that Huub Artz was the busiest Dutch rider of them all. The 24-year-old Lotto-Intermarché rider has suddenly started making an impression in the bunch sprints and spoke to IDL Pro Cycling about his seemingly endless range of abilities. His teammate Liam Slock also caught the eye.
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Artz is only in his second season at WorldTour level, so there is no need to feel embarrassed if you did not know much about him before this Tour de France. He rode for Metec-SOLARWATT p/b Mantel until the end of 2023 before spending the 2024 season with the Intermarché-Wanty development team. He stepped up to the WorldTour in 2025 and then became part of the newly formed Lotto-Intermarché squad following the merger between Lotto and Intermarché during the winter.
Artz was already mentioned as one of the team’s potential leaders last December, particularly with time trials and the Classics in mind. There was a good reason for that assessment: he became European under-23 road champion in 2024 and recently won the Dutch national time trial title after placing fourth in the same event in 2025. Artz clearly possesses a powerful engine, and he also gained his first experience in a Grand Tour when he made his Vuelta a España debut in 2025.
Even so, neither Lotto-Intermarché nor Artz could have predicted in December how these opening weeks of July would unfold. After winning the Dutch time trial title, he arrived at the Tour de France as a wildcard who would also contribute to Arnaud De Lie’s lead-out. When the Belgian was forced to abandon early because of illness, Artz was suddenly given opportunities of his own. He promptly sprinted to fourth and seventh places on Stages 5 and 7. Things did not work out as well during the eighth stage, when he crossed the line in 61st position.
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Kooij won on Day 5, but on the left side of the red zone, Artz made a surprising sprint to fourth place.
Artz finds his legs after a difficult start to the Tour de France
“It’s quite enjoyable and certainly something different,” Artz said with a smile in the mixed zone on Saturday. “Before the stages, I suddenly have to explain myself as a sprinter, so that is new for me. But I feel at home at the Tour and I’m relaxed. Having good legs obviously plays an important part in that. When the legs are good, you can focus much more on the tactics and how you want to race, rather than spending the whole day worrying about whether you are going to make it to the finish.”
With his bleached hair, stoic expression and refreshingly honest answers—including after his unusual incident with the race jury during Stage 6—Artz has quickly won over Dutch cycling supporters. Nevertheless, the Tour debutant needed some time to find his rhythm. “I struggled during the first few days, but after that I managed to come through it,” he explained. “The level here is unbelievably high, though. Even when I’m having a very good day, I still have to ride intelligently and choose my moments carefully.”
That will also apply during Stage 9, a day Artz had already highlighted before his unexpected sprint results changed the nature of his Tour. “It is one of those stages where, in this peloton, you have to be extremely strong if you want to compete for the victory,” he said. “On Sunday, we will find out who the strongest riders really are. I can’t put myself in the same category as someone like Mathieu van der Poel, but I’m going to see what might be possible.”
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Stage 9 of the Tour de France—is this Huub Artz's chance?
Artz refuses to call himself a sprinter after Tour de France success
Artz originally arrived with stages such as Sunday’s hilly race in mind, but being allowed to sprint for himself three times during the opening week has significantly reduced the pressure surrounding Stage 9. “There are not many opportunities for riders like me on that kind of terrain, but everything has changed because of the sprints,” he said. “It is no longer a situation where I absolutely have to perform in a stage such as Sunday’s. I can simply try something, stay a little more hidden and see how the race develops.”
That freedom could make Artz even more dangerous. “It gives me more room to play the tactical game, because I only ended up sprinting by coincidence,” he explained. “After getting those first strong results, though, you naturally start wanting more. I still don’t know exactly how I should view that with the future in mind. Within the space of three weeks, I have won a time trial at the Dutch national championships and then started competing in Tour de France bunch sprints. I honestly don’t know whether that means I should become a real sprinter.”
That uncertainty was also clear when Artz responded to Lotto-Intermarché’s ambition of fully supporting him during the remaining sprint opportunities. He did not reject the idea, but he was reluctant to commit himself completely to a traditional lead-out. “I appreciate the support I am receiving from the team, and I will certainly follow my teammates as we approach the finale,” he said. “But there have already been several moments when I had to decide whether following them was the right choice. I like having the freedom to make that decision for myself during the race.”
Lotto-Intermarché appears to have been liberated in general following De Lie’s withdrawal. Baptiste Veistroffer has already attacked twice, while Liam Slock was able to dream of a remarkable solo victory for much of Stage 8 before the peloton finally caught him. The 25-year-old Belgian described 2026 as “the season of my breakthrough” after another prominent performance. “Everyone knows me because of my crash on the finish line when I won the GP Gippingen,” Slock joked. “Perhaps now they will remember me for something else.” Point taken.
Bram van der PloegEditor-in-chief
Bram van der Ploeg (35) is the proud founder of In de Leiderstrui, IDL Pro Cycling's parent site, launched in 2018. Finally, he could create stories about the sport he had followed since childhood. He is the editor-in-chief on paper, but prefers to be with his recorder next to a rider, a team bus, or in the mud at a cyclocross race. Every year, from February to the end of May, Bram follows the entire Italian cycling season, from the Trofeo Laigueglia to the Giro d'Italia, with the grand finale in October in Lombardy. During that time, he lives in Tuscany, where he has since come to call Italy his 'home'.
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Latest Comments
- No teammates on the Tourmalet. Too fast up the Tourmalet.
merganzer10-07-2026 - Reef is whistling past the graveyard by denying what was plain to see: Tadej crushed Jonas, beating him in the ascent and, even more decisively on the descent, where most of the gap was created. In the world of reality, rather than the fantsay that Reef related, Jonas will not become a better descender between now and Paris, and Tadej won't get less adept at the skill. Moreover, it wasn't only about the mano y mono, between the two Tour leaders, but the unraveling of Visma, and the dominance of UAE, especially IDT. Barring injury or some other anomalous occurrence, we'll look back at Tadej's win on stage six as the day he won the 2026 TDF.rjb10-07-2026
- Remco continues alternating between Dr. Jekyl and, as he did today post-race, Mr. Hyde, lashing out as others for not racing according to his preferences. This isn't the first time he's complained about opponents' tactics, but it's the first time I've heard him do it to a teammate, and that lack of discretion and team loyalty may come back to haunt him. I though he'd outgrown these childish pouts; obviously, I was mistaken.rjb10-07-2026
- - How many times has Pog actually worn yellow now? The article hints he’s lost count—anyone got the exact stat?robert6506-07-2026
- - Unreal start to the Tour: two punches in three days. If he’s taking yellow this early, the real game is load management before the first true summit finish.davidm06-07-2026
- - Grandissimo Tadej! Maillot jaune meritato, squadra perfetta oggi.sprocketspiny06-07-2026
- - Not sure I buy the “nothing really tough” description. 3,850m of climbing in that heat is brutal, even if the gradients aren’t HC. Felt a bit dismissive.cadencekingm06-07-2026
- - Pogacar’s humour about the gels was gold. Also, nice to see him credit Del Toro. That Barcelona gesture coming back today was a proper team arc.michael5406-07-2026
- - Quick question: when they say “break got a free pass” by Visma, does that mean Visma just stopped chasing completely? Or is it more like they eased but still controlled the gap?velodromevirtuoso106-07-2026
- - Sorry, but the piece glosses over how Vermeersch shredded the gap. That was the hinge of the stage. Give him more credit than a single line.raceready706-07-2026
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