"I didn't feel like I had anything left in my legs" - Mathieu van der Poel on brutal day out at Tour de France
Cycling
Mathieu van der Poel reported being ill at the start of today's Tour de France stage and was at the back of the peloton throughout the first kilometers. However, the breakaway formation took so much time that the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider eventually put himself in position and went on to fight for the stage win. It was close but no cigar for the former yellow jersey.
Van der Poel's performance, like many others today, was quite impressive. He formed an absolute elite group that jumped out of the breakaway in the final hour and a half of the race with Wout van Aert, Quinn Simmons, Axel Laurance and Arnaud de Lie. The quintet had to work had to stay in sight of the front group in which stage winner Jonas Abrahamsen was present in.
On the penultimate climb of the day, van der Poel couldn't respond to Quinn Simmons' attack who tried getting to the front group by himself. "I didn't feel like I had anything left in my legs when Simmons went down on the penultimate climb. When Wout reacted, I was at my limit. I tried to recover, but I didn't feel like I had anything left," he told NOS in a post-race interview.
"I certainly wasn't at my best, especially in the beginning. I had also told the team they could join the race. After that, I was still at the front of the race. I have a bit of a cold and a heavy headache, but it got better at some point. That's why I was a bit hesitant at the beginning."
But on that final climb we saw the best van der Poel in action, putting in a dashing attack to drop his group companions and be the sole chaser to the front duo. Although, the 30-year old admits that he actually believed he was in the head of the race alone at that point in time.
"It was actually a confusing situation. I only heard late that two riders were still in front. That's a shame," he admits. "On the final climb, I thought I was in the lead because the radio connection was difficult. There are so many transmitters, and it gets choppy. I thought the group ahead of us was the breakaway, but I quickly realized there were two more riders ahead."
"I quickly realized afterward that it was going to be difficult. I had to pace myself. I also knew they would keep riding to sprint for the win." Van der Poel rode to third on the day, still with a very strong performance but not bringing in the desired result.
Read also
El ataque de Van der Poel.
— Eurosport.es (@Eurosport_ES) July 16, 2025
La toma aérea.
El brutal ambiente.#TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/bfMsfKBTyK
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
claps 1visitors 1
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- great analysis thanks! appreciate you posting this. I didn't realize CX had a different standard for deviation. this is even more egregious it seems.mij10-11-2026
- As he isn't currently with Red Bull, I guess if he want to race for one more year he needs to find a team. He's 37 so this will be his last year I would guess, unless he wants to race for almost nothing like Froome did.awp10-11-2026
- I think some are making much ado about nothing. Even though Jonas is getting older, before his crash in the Tour, he looked like a solid 2nd all the way home. No one can really climb with Tadej until this year, Eric Mas showed himself which I think was a one off year for him and Paul Seixas has been able to be pretty close to him. Whatever stage race Jonas enters as long as Tadej is not there he is a favorite to win.awp10-11-2026
- Giro or not Giro, he won't win the Tour!MajorPayne10-11-2026
- Very true.awp10-11-2026
- Ciccone had a very strong end of season. Consistently attacking and livening up races. Hope he makes that last leap in progress and starts notching some significant wins. Great rider to watch.Occam10-11-2026
- Me too!!!!!Occam10-11-2026
- they can sign any 100 of top riders today but Pogi will win over Remco any time at the TDF unless something goes wrongabstractengineer10-11-2026
- the time for a GC rider to retire is when they cannot win stages, or have a significant level drop like from winner/podium into top 5/10 consistently. Roglic is still competitive and Froome raced even though he became pack fodder.abstractengineer10-11-2026
- He should be in a different team. It was detrimental. For them it does not matter if he does not develop. He should have gone to a team where they need him to succeed.abstractengineer10-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment