Michael Boogerd doesn't favor Mathieu van der Poel for first yellow jersey: "I expect UAE to make the race tough"

Tour de France will start on Saturday, June 29. While the battle for overall victory will last for three weeks, many eyes will follow closely the fight for the first yellow jersey in Rimini.

Tom Dumoulin is convinced Mathieu van der Poel won't be in the mix on a hard stage from Florence and De Telegraaf columnist Michael Boogerd agrees with the take.

"If you look at the first stage, it will be too difficult for Van der Poel with a few vicious climbs," Boogerd thinks. "If Tadej Pogacar feels good right away and notices that Jonas Vingegaard is not yet at his best, I expect UAE to make the race tough."

In addition, Boogerd doesn't favor the world champion for stage win the following day either. "The yellow jersey will be a difficult story, and the second stage is not really ideal for Van der Poel either. But yes, Van der Poel has surprised us before, although I assume that he is focusing on stages further on in the Tour," he refers for example the gravel stage 9 in Troyes.