The Tour de France has a new King of the Mountain; Alex Molenaar on starting strong in Barcelona
CyclingMonday, 06 July 2026 at 10:24
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Follow us on GoogleThe first rider to finish the 2026 Tour de France at Saturday's stage 1 was Caja Rural's Alex Molenaar! The Dutch rider posted a more than respectable time trial result. But it was stage 2 where Molenaar really introduced himself to the race. He spent most of the stage out front, taking sprint points, and crucially, enough King of the Mountains points to wear the Polka-dot jersey. He spoke to IDL Pro Cycling about his Tour de France so far.
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Our conversation begins a bit strangely: “That’s cherry juice—they gave it to me after the finish," Molenaar said of his red-stained jersey. "I thought it was water. I could already hear a lot of people on the sidelines saying, ‘That poor guy fell,’ haha,” he laughs.
Molenaar has been living in Catalonia for a few years now, so it was all the more special for him to be chosen to be the first to ride up the Montjuïc climb on stage 1. “And right here in the center of Barcelona, too. That was really special and felt great. Tons of people, a great crowd, and a ton of cheering. Yeah, crazy."
Were any family members or friends there? "Sure, but I didn’t see them. It was going too fast for that, haha.”
Read more below the photo!
Molenaar takes his chances on Tour de France stage 2
At the end of stage 1, Caja Rural finished an impressive 16th out of 23. “We have nothing to win, but we’ll try to ride the best time trial we can. I think that’s important for our confidence heading into the coming days. I’m in great shape—it’s the Tour, so it’s all completely new to me. So we’re going to see what the competition is like and, above all, just try to enjoy ourselves and get the best result we can.”
On Sunday, Molenaar know that he had chance to go for the polka-dot jersey in the second stage. He told us: “I think that will be a goal for the team. We’ll be aiming for it not just for me, but for several riders. And we’ve got a few exciting finishes coming up, so we’ll try to get the best possible result and make our mark,” said Molenaar.
That's cherry juice on his arm, not blood
Molenaar called on Tour of Catalonia knowledge on stage 2
Molenaar's local knowledge (he lives in Girona), and his time racing the Tour of Catalonia gave him insights into the second stage of the Tour de France: “It’s part of the Tour of Catalonia—exactly the same route, but with a steeper climb.” So we all know it; it’s a great finale. We’re going to try to get in on the action.”
When pressed, Molenaar also told us who he thought would win: “Of course, it’s easy to say Tadej Pogačar, but well, we’ll see. We’ll see. I think Mathieu van der Poel certainly has a good chance tomorrow,” said Molenaar. It turns out he was spot on about Pogačar's dominance, even though the world champion gave the stage away. Van der Poel, however, did not live up to his promise.
And what did Molenaar hope for himself? “I think they’re definitely going for it, so yeah, we’re going to give it a shot. This is, of course, an incredibly high level of competition, so we’ll see how far we get. But we’re definitely going to try,” he concludes.
Molenaar's stage 2 prediction came true at Tour de France
Together with Felix Engelhardt (Jayco AlUla) and fellow Dutchman Frank van den Broek (Picnic PostNL), the 26-year-old from Rotterdam set off on a one-day breakaway, and the trio managed to hold on until the local lap. Molenaar’s story is particularly remarkable, as he noted that this wasn’t actually how he had planned it.
"It wasn't exactly the plan, but of course we're a team and we have to help each other," the Dutch rider, clad in the polka-dot jersey, told NOS on Sunday after the stage. “At that moment, the two guys in the breakaway couldn’t keep up, so I just had to do it.”
Molenaar will try to defend the KOM jersey at the Tour de France
And so it came down to racking up as many mountain points as possible. “That’s when it gets a little exciting, because you have to time it just right. It’s tricky, but we’re used to it, so we know how to handle it.” It paid off in the end, as Molenaar now leads the mountain classification with 5 mountain points.
The man from Rotterdam found that hard to believe. “Unbelievable… bizarre. I could hardly believe it.” What was going through his mind? “All kinds of things. All those years, all that training, all those races… the whole journey leading up to this. To be standing here on the podium—it’s definitely been worth it.”
Of course, the main question remains: what now? After all, another challenging mountain stage is on the schedule for Monday, which means there will be plenty of mountain points to earn. “We’ll have to see if we can defend it. We haven’t really thought about it yet, but I think I have a pretty good idea of how to do it,” Molenaar concluded.
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Tom van der Salm (27) comes from the charming town of Zeilberg (Deurne) in the Netherlands and has been working as editor-in-chief & journalist at IDL Pro Cycling's parent site, In de Leiderstrui, since 2019. He travels with the peloton from the Tour de France to the AlUla Tour and from the World Championships in Rwanda or Canada to the Zilvermeercross in Mol. In his spare time he enjoys playing football, mountain biking, running, walking with his Labrador/Stabyhoun, investing, holidays, (specialty) beers, reading, cooking and watching sports & documentaries!
Contact: [email protected]
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Latest Comments
- - ¿A qué hora empieza la transmisión en CET? No lo veo claro. Gracias.gearguru3306-07-2026
- - Cheering for Alaphilippe to roll the dice. Old legs but still the panache. Allez Juju!breakawaybikerd06-07-2026
- - Expect a reduced bunch if the crosswinds hit after the feed zone. If not, break wins by 20–40s. Keep an eye on bonus seconds; yellow could swap shoulders on time splits alone.lindae06-07-2026
- - Feels a bit clicky—“Find out LIVE!” but no analysis on sprint trains vs puncheurs? Come on, give us likely teams that will shut it down (Visma, Ineos, Lidl?).samanthak06-07-2026
- - Great preview but missing a profile graphic of the final 30km. Is there a kicker near the end or more of a drag strip? That matters for who can stick it.tourdeforce906-07-2026
- - Quick q: when they say “breakaway,” is that just any group that rides ahead, or specific riders who plan it? And how do teams decide to chase or not?bikebuffj06-07-2026
- - Love a proper breakaway stage early doors. If the GC boys blink, someone like Mohorič or Verona could nick it. Weather/wind updates?patriciaw06-07-2026
- - Chapeau to the peloton in that heat. 40 degrees and still full gas over Montjuïc… eso es brutal.julien06-07-2026
- - Not convinced by the “scenario doesn’t suit Jonas” line. He knew Montjuïc was coming and still lost the kick. If you’ve got the yellow, defend it—don’t talk it down. Feels a bit like expectation management from Visma.davidm06-07-2026
- - Del Toro was immense again. UAE riding two leaders into the finale puts real pressure on Visma’s depth. Still, Jonas holding firm on a punchy climb that doesn’t suit him is a good sign for the high mountains. Keep the powder dry.patriciaw06-07-2026
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