"I have no idea how I did this" - Mathieu van der Poel back in yellow after brave escapade

Mathieu van der Poel is without a doubt one of the stars of the Tour de France's first week. After several successful stages and a few days in the yellow jersey, the Dutchman has today joined the day's breakaway to recapture the lead of the Tour de France by a single second over Tadej Pogacar.

"I have no idea how I did this. I don't know how I got through the last thirty kilometers, but I'm happy to have regained the jersey by just one second," van der Poel said in an interview with several media outlets including Wielerflits after the finish. "I was pretty exhausted at the finish. I didn't feel great today, but I was in the right frame of mind. I was pushing myself all day, and by the end, I was completely exhausted."

It was a day that started off with van der Poel aiming for points at the intermediate sprint, possibly marking his change in approach to the green jersey. "That took so much energy that it took a long time before I got back to the front. The moment I broke through, I saw it happening. I decided to join the attack, and I was right there. Initially, I felt a bit of regret, because I was pushing myself. In the end, it was just a battle against myself."

It's not the first time the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider has been part of an elite Tour breakaway on a day well suited to his abilities, but stage 6 proved to be too much of an obstacle for the already-fatigued Dutchman. He can't be blamed after winning stage 2 to Boulogne-sur-Mer and keeping hold of the yellow jersey into the fifth stage's Caen time-trial. Despite struggling a lot in the final and being the last out of the group of eight to cross the finish line, it was enough to get the maillot jaune back in his shoulders.

"At one point, it looked good, but you know there's another acceleration coming from the peloton. I never thought about a big lead, and in the end, it's only a one-second difference." It was just about enough, miraculously, for the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider to go back into the podium, whilst he also made improvements in the points classification standings.

But tomorrow will already be a challenge to retain it, as he holds 1 second over Tadej Pogacar into the Tour de France. "I hope I can recover after today. If you see how Pogacar and Vingegaard have been riding these last few days... If they go all out on the Mûr-de-Bretagne, it will be very difficult".