Mathieu van der Poel leadout impressive for Lance Armstrong and George Hincapie: "It becomes impossible to beat Philipsen"
Cycling
The Tour de France puts in display some of the best leadouts in the cycling world and certainly one of them is that of Alpecin-Deceuninck. Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen teamed up to absolute perfection in 2023 but have had a rough Tour until yesterday's victory. But it was a victory in 2023 style; Lance Armstrong and George Hincapie believe that with van der Poel's leadout, the Belgian is close to unbeatable even here.
"Jasper was quite emotional at the finish. It was perfect', Armstrong said in The Move podcast. The Belgian team finally managed to make their move the way they intended on stage 10. After a few unsuccessful sprints, a relegation and a long gap to close to the green jersey, Philipsen had been quite discontent with the race thus far whilst van der Poel is lacking the form and routes to take a victory himself.
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But on stage 10 the pieces of the puzzle finally clicked and the team had three men close to the front inside the final kilometer. Robbe Ghys did an important working heading into the sprint, but this time around Mathieu van der Poel was able to unleash his explosive sprint which saw no-one trying to surprise Philipsen. In the dash to the line, last year's green jersey managed to comfortably take the triumph over Biniam Girmay and Pascal Ackermann.
"Anyone who watches cycling and sees that train go, with Van der Poel who has a clear path in the last kilometer, knows that it is game over for the rest," fellow American George Hincapie argued. "Then it becomes impossible to beat Philipsen, which is also the case." This takes some weight off the shoulders of Alpecin but still, there are only a few sprint stages remaining and Philipsen continues to have a 74-point gap to close to the Intermarché-Wanty rider if he wants to wear green in Nice.
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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)...
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- Pidcock finished 9th place, 29 minutes down. he is a helluva rider, so gutsy. and he is amazing at all disciplines. but this headline is . . .mij09-11-2026
- I know, watch the video. and listen to her competitors. it was a tricky tacky call at best. WTF is this guy talking about??? my original comment was from the picture it didn't look like anything.mij09-11-2026
- I dunno what you're talking about. you make no sense. MS's competitor and the competitors coach said it was BS. she didn't deviate in a way that relegation should be required. revel LOL. you're so cool, in your own mind.mij09-11-2026
- deviation lol, watch the videomij09-11-2026
- the 'No different than women who follow and discuss celebs through gossip magazines' comment was unfortunately a bit off. didn't you just boast about your principles in the comments section of another article?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- Are you MrMauMau 2.0? Nothing you are saying is really relevant. Vaguely connected, but irrelevant. The conversation is whether Schreiber impeded Brand or not.
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026
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Mathieu van der Poel celebrating the win of Jasper Philipsen behind the sprint 😍 #TDF2024 📷: latchy3
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