"He tells me every day to go for green" - Mathieu van der Poel may change plans after advice from Jasper Philipsen

Will we finally see Mathieu van der Poel going for the green jersey at the Tour de France? After more than a week of denying that possibility, the Dutchman contested the intermediate sprint on stage 6 which leads most to believe this ambition has finally emerged. At the same time, it was done at the request of the team.

"Actually, that was more the team's decision. According to Christoph (Roodhoft, team manager, ed.), I don't always pay attention, but I call it 'passively attentive.' I often pick things up," van der Poel shared in the Vive le Vélo.

"It's difficult to make that switch to green. That was always the goal with Jasper. He tells me every day to go for green. Maybe that plays a small part as well," he has explained. With Kaden Groves assisting him, the Dutchman can be assured of good points throughout the intermediate sprints, but the real challenge will be the flat bunch sprints where he doesn't ordinarily perform - and where the team should back Groves for a stage win.

Van der Poel was clear before the race that he wouldn't aim for the points classification, but his stupendous form and strong results throughout the opening six days of the race see him up to second in the classification, very close to the leader Jonathan Milan. If it's ever to happen it would be in 2025 taking into consideration his start but also the amount of hilly stages on the route. Van der Poel will still enjoy finishes like those to Mur-de-Bretagne, Toulouse, Carcassonne or Pontarlier where there will either be a reduced sprint or breakaway fighting for victory on roads that suit him.

Hence it is quite possible that van der Poel will be eyeing this jersey, even though at the moment he should be more focused in keeping the yellow jersey on his shoulders - he holds it by 1 second over Tadej Pogacar.

The new leader of the race has gotten quite close to cramping by the end of stage 6 and has joked that he has never actually experienced that before at the Tour de France: "I'll lose five years of life, luckily those years are only deducted at the end. I was still talking about it with Jasper before the Tour. 'I've never had that in a race,' I said. I should have kept quiet!"