“I already had a love-hate relationship with the Tour de France” – Mathieu van der Poel reflects on pneumonia ending his strongest Tour in 2025

For Mathieu van der Poel, the Tour de France has never been simple. He has worn the yellow jersey. He has won stages. He has animated weeks of racing. But he has also abandoned, recalibrated, and walked away frustrated.

Speaking on the Whoop podcast, the Dutchman offered perhaps his clearest summary yet of that complicated relationship.

“I already had a love-hate relationship with the Tour, it has not always been super successful for me. This year it finally was, but then I got sick, which was difficult,” he reflects honestly.

The “finally” matters.

Van der Poel’s 2025 Tour de France began with momentum. He won stage two, pulled on the yellow jersey once again, and spent nearly a week at the centre of the race. Aggressive, visible, and tactically sharp, it was shaping up to be his most complete Tour performance to date.

In 2021, he delivered one of the most emotional moments of the race by winning at Mûr-de-Bretagne and taking yellow in tribute to his grandfather Raymond Poulidor. But that debut Tour ended early.

In 2022, he left again without finding rhythm.

In 2023 and 2024, he completed the race, yet largely in support roles and without the same personal impact.

In 2025, for the first time, the balance seemed right. He was competitive, influential and motivated to see the race through. “I was very motivated to bring the Tour to a good end, especially the final stage was one that suited me very well,” he said.

Then came the interruption no rider can fully control.

Van der Poel was forced to abandon after stage fifteen due to pneumonia, ending a Tour that had finally aligned with his ambitions. “The Tour is a big event. You come into contact with a lot of people, which makes it difficult to trace where you picked it up. You try to manage it as well as possible, but there is always a chance of getting sick.”

There was no tactical error. No misjudged effort. No collapse in form. Just an illness in the middle of cycling’s most intense three weeks.

For a rider who has built a career on instinct, timing and physical explosiveness, the randomness of illness presents a different kind of challenge.

Setbacks are not new in Van der Poel’s career. Crashes, tactical misfires and abandoned Grand Tours have all featured at various points. But age, he suggests, changes how those moments are processed.

“When you are a bit older, it is easier to process something like that. It is part of the sport, you have ups and downs. It makes you appreciate the good moments even more.”

That perspective reflects a rider no longer chasing validation from the Tour, but seeking alignment with it. The love-hate relationship remains, but the frustration now sits alongside acceptance.

The 2025 Tour did not end the way he hoped. Yet for the first time, it showed what his version of a successful Tour could look like.

And that may prove more significant than the abandonment itself.