"Sorry, Mathieu — but no friends for a moment” - Remco Evenepoel plays key role in denying Van der Poel heroic breakaway win on stage 9 of 2025 Tour de France
Cycling
Mathieu van der Poel came so close to making it a second stage win of the 2025 Tour de France on Sunday afternoon's stage 9. After attacking from kilometre zero with Alpecin-Deceuninck teammate Jonas Rickaert, the Dutchman lasted all the way until the final kilometre before eventually been swallowed up by the sprinters.
In the finale, one of the riders tasked with helping to bring Van der Poel back was Soudal - Quick-Step's general classification hopeful Remco Evenepoel, with the 2nd on GC Belgian even pulling turns right at the front of the peloton. This work was rewarded too as his teammate Tim Merlier powered to the sprint win in Châteauroux.
“I’m absolutely delighted. Saturday’s disaster in the crosswinds is behind us. Our team already has three stage wins — it’s fantastic," reflected Evenepoel in a post-stage interview collected by Sporza at the finishing line. “It was a pretty chaotic day, with the wind and with Mathieu van der Poel riding incredibly strongly.“
Evenepoel and Van der Poel are known to be good friends, but when a stage win of the Tour de France is on the line, that all goes out the window momentarily. "I wanted to help Tim, and I managed to do that,” Evenepoel explains. "That’s the sport. I ride for Soudal–Quick-Step, not for Alpecin–Deceuninck. I’d told Tim beforehand: if the situation arose and I was there, I’d help him. Sorry, Mathieu — but no friends for a moment.”
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Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- Yeah man...PogiSloFans07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
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