"It was an exceptionally tough and hot day" - Mathieu van der Poel overcooked and in trouble on opening Tour de France day

Mathieu van der Poel was an outsider for the opening day of the Tour de France but found himself in deep difficulties. He was one of the many riders who suffered from the climbing and heat in the Italian hills; as Tom Pidcock called it: "The weirdest stage I've ever done".

“It was an exceptionally tough and hot day, so it was difficult to get back into racing,” van der Poel told CyclingPro.net. “However, I blew myself up on the tough climb. That’s just how racing goes. I hope that from now on I will only improve." The Dutchman ultimately couldn't hang on to the peloton with the hard pace set by UAE Team Emirates; with 70 kilometers to go. Only seconds after Mads Pedersen was also dropped, but the Dane regained contact with the peloton afterwards with support of Lidl-Trek and benefited from the pace slowing down - which allowed Romain Bardet to attack and race towards the stage win.

Van der Poel could've been part of the battle for the win if he had managed to latch on to Pedersen's group but it was too big of an effort. The World Champion ultimately arrived 88th on the stage over 18 minutes down on the peloton. Something which may allow him to have fresher legs today in Bologna in comparison to other contenders for the stage.

Today's hilly course does not feature the long climbs that are a difficulty for the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider, but the ascent to Madona di San Luca is quite brutal specially in such weather conditions, and may be too constant of an effort to see van der Poel contest for the wni. However, after racing to third at Liège-Bastogne-Liège this year, he cannot be discarded, even if he admits himself that it may be too much. "I do want to have a shot at winning a stage. I hope to continue to grow in the coming days, but I know that the next stage will also be difficult for me," he concluded.