Former world champion Mathieu van der Poel has won the shortened, heat-affected stage of the 113th Tour de France in the Massif Central. After 154.6 kilometres of undulating terrain between Malemort and Ussel, the classics specialist prevailed in a sprint from a breakaway group, ahead of Tobias Halland Johannessen and Tom Pidcock. For the 31-year-old Dutchman, this is his third stage victory in the Tour.
“It was a really tough day. The start of the Tour wasn’t great for our team. But I think, as always, we’ve kept our cool. We’ve got a great group and we believe we can turn things round. (...) It’s great that we can head into the rest day with a win,” said van der Poel.
The stage had been shortened by around 30 kilometres due to the high temperatures – a first in the tour’s long history. A red heat alert had been issued for the Corrèze department. Temperatures reached almost 40 degrees.
Nevertheless, the race got off to a fast start and then became a thrilling contest. A group of eight riders led by van der Poel formed on the climb up to Suc au May. At the final mountain classification, around 24 kilometres from the finish, the Dutchman went on the attack. Pidcock had brief problems with his bike but was able to catch up with the other three leaders again.
After the rest day, the next mountain stages
In the group of favourites, the domestiques riding for overall leader Tadej Pogacar set the pace and controlled the gap. Later on, the teams of Jonas Vingegaard and Egan Bernal also lent a hand, but were unable to catch up with the group. In the end, they fell just a few metres short.
Pogacar defended his yellow jersey and his 2:42-minute lead over Vingegaard. Germany’s hope, Florian Lipowitz, and his co-captain, Remco Evenepoel, crossed the finish line at the same time as their rivals.
Monday will be the riders’ first rest day. The race then continues in the Massif Central. On France’s national holiday, the riders will face 3,800 metres of climbing and two Category 1 climbs between Aurillac and Le Lioran.
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