Mathieu van der Poel wins stage 2 of the Tour de France and takes the yellow jersey

Dutch cyclist Mathieu van der Poel won the second stage of the Tour de France on Sunday. The stage was over 208 kilometers (about 129 miles) long and stretched from Lauwin-Planque to Boulogne-sur-Mer in northern France. It was the longest stage in this year’s race. Van der Poel won with a powerful sprint at the end, beating two of the race’s biggest stars: Tadej Pogačar from Slovenia and Jonas Vingegaard from Denmark.

Thanks to this win, Van der Poel also took over the overall lead in the race, earning the famous yellow jersey. He took it from his Belgian teammate Jasper Philipsen.

The next stage on Monday, which runs between Valenciennes and Dunkirk, is mostly flat, which means the fast sprinters will likely have a better chance to win.

The last time that Van der Poel won a Tour stage was in 2021. He also picked up the yellow jersey as a result of that victory, he held the jersey for six days on that occasion.

The stage began in rainy weather. Early on, four riders tried to break away from the rest of the group: Yevgeniy Fedorov from Kazakhstan, Bruno Armirail from France, Brent Van Moer from Belgium, and Andreas Leknessund from Norway. Two of them fell on a slippery corner but were able to get back up and rejoin. Their lead lasted for a while, but with about 50 kilometers left, they were caught by the main group again.

As the stage went on, several short but steep hills made the race harder. Belgian riders Wout van Aert and Tim Wellens set a strong pace, and some riders began to fall behind. On the second-to-last climb, Philipsen lost contact with the front group. Big names like Pogačar and Vingegaard pushed hard, splitting the group further.

In the final stretch, Van der Poel made his move on the uphill finish. No one could catch him, not even the top climbers. He crossed the line first, earning both the stage win and the yellow jersey, a huge achievement early in the race.