"This is tougher than a mountain stage" - Adrie van der Poel highlights how brutal can be days like stage 6

Mathieu van der Poel gave up the yellow jersey after stage 5 time trial, but the Dutchman didn't have to wait long to return to race lead. On stage 6, the Alpecin-Deceuninck leader joined daily breakaway and as peloton wasn't keen on chasing the leading group, Van der Poel was able to narrowly jump over Tadej Pogacar by one second in the GC.

"We already said it, ten kilometers from the finish: Mathieu will still need at least a minute at the beginning of that final kilometer," Adrie van der Poel told In de Leiderstrui about the stage. "A second... it's not much, but it's enough for the yellow jersey. He would have preferred half a minute, of course, because that gives you a bit more leeway. But you have to be satisfied."

"It was already a super tough day, of course, with the pace going incredibly fast the whole time. Mathieu had been fighting for a long time to break away. This was probably one of the toughest days of this Tour," noted the father of Mathieu van der Poel.

"After that intermediate sprint, they really went all out, and it took a while to break away, on a difficult course."

It's taken nearly two hours of full throttle racing for the daily breakaway to be finally let go. "I think they were averaging 45, 46... and the other guys up front were probably riding a bit more in reserve, while Mathieu was trying to give it his all. Not so much with the idea of ​​winning the stage, but definitely to reclaim the yellow jersey."

"This is tougher than a mountain stage," Adrie explains. "In a mountain stage, you ride towards a mountain, you ride at your own pace, and then that's it. Here, it's constantly rushing and stopping, you know? And in a breakaway, there are always riders with other interests. And make no mistake: they're very good riders," he points out.

The victory on the day went to Ben Healy who left the rest of the breakaway far behind with a 40-kilometer solo. Adrie van der Poel was not surprised by such outcome:

"Ben Healy breaking away wasn't so bad. He was by far the strongest. We know his numbers, there's nothing wrong with that," analyzes Adrie. "Then you hope they'll still be around behind him. And at the end of the day, it also matters that Mathieu is a bit heavier than those guys. But it's always a combination of all those factors. It was a day with 3,500 meters of elevation gain, which is tough."

Mur de Bretagne, climb where Mathieu took yellow jersey for the first time in his career will be on the course again on Friday, but there won't be much time to reminiscent with Tadej Pogacar on his tail.

"I think we need to put that aside for now," Adrie agrees. "We're just going to start and see how it goes. Are we just going to control, are there any other teams? For Mathieu, it's crucial to be at the front, but a stage like this demands a lot of recovery."