Teammate on Mathieu van der Poel: ''When I looked behind me at 10 kilometers from finish, I saw the killer look on his face''

Jasper Philipsen had already won on Saturday, but on Sunday the men in grey lined up with fresh determination. “We switched our focus quickly. We knew there would be plenty of chances for our team in the first week, so we realized we had to go all in again. It’s still a bit too early in the Tour to be euphoric,” said Gianni Vermeersch.

Vermeersch and Xandro Meurisse were the final helpers for their three speedsters after early work from Silvan Dillier and Emiel Verstrynge, and they spoke to reporters about their roles in this second Tour stage.

“Our job was to keep him at the front as long as possible. We could see from Mathieu that he was okay. He didn’t say much,” said Vermeersch. “I was with him until that one-kilometer climb, about 10 kilometers from the finish. At that point, there wasn’t much left to say. We knew we needed to be at the front there, and my job was to position him, knowing he’d take care of the rest,” Meurisse added.

“When I looked back at the foot of that climb, 10 kilometers from the finish, his face said it all. He was fired up for that stage, and I don’t think it was a surprise. You can just see it, that killer look. Focus. But that’s his mentality,” said Meurisse, who still had to pinch himself. “We knew our chances were in this first week, and to go two for two… we can’t go home yet, but it’s already more than a success.”

And now, time to celebrate? “A very, very small glass of champagne. The Tour isn’t over, it’s really just beginning. But there’s no better start possible. We need to enjoy this: firstly, that we’re even here, but especially with a team and a leader like this,” said Meurisse. Vermeersch fully agreed: “This lifts the level of the entire team. We’re already a tight group, and we’d go through fire for each other.”