“Sometimes I wonder how the others recover so well" - Mathieu van der Poel cracks on the Mur-de-Bretagne to lose Tour de France Maillot Jaune

For the second time this Tour de France already, Mathieu van der Poel has been forced to pass on control of the Maillot Jaune to Tadej Pogacar. This time, because of a brutal Mur-de-Bretagne on stage 7, that saw Van der Poel crack out of contention whilst his Slovenian rival powered to the stage win.

Despite the disappointment of losing the Yellow Jersey after just one day in it, Van der Poel was realistic when he spoke to NOS after crossing the finish line. “If I want to stay with the best on a finish like that, I need to have my very best legs,” the Alpecin-Deceuninck leader explained, admitting today was not a day where that was the case. "I already knew beforehand that I didn’t have them today."

"On the first ascent of the Mûr-de-Bretagne, I didn’t completely crack yet, but I could feel it coming. I knew they’d push even harder the second time up," he continues his honest assessment. "I was realistic enough to know that I’d be losing the jersey today.”

Although still 5th overall at the end of the day, 1:29 down on Pogacar, it's more than likely game over in terms of the GC for Van der Poel now, not that he is complaining.

“Sometimes I wonder how the others recover so well,” he said with a wry smile. “I’m glad I can focus more on the classics — that suits me better. But I really enjoyed this last day in yellow. Maybe even more than the first few days, because I knew I was probably going to lose it. And to come back here, to the Mûr-de-Bretagne — where I won in 2021 and took the jersey... this place is truly special for me,” he concludes.

With no GC pressure and the ability to pick and choose his days for the remainder of the race, a second stage win this Grand Tour is far from out of the question for Mathieu van der Poel.