Tour de France: Van der Poel fails on the next victory – Pogacar falls

In front of party-loving cycling fans on the Côtes de Pech David, ex-world champion Mathieu van der Poel left his permanent rival Wout van Aert on the last climb in front of the city of Toulouse, but again the Dutch failed the next stage. After the wafer-thin day victory of the Norwegian Jonas Abrahamsen, the classic specialist drove the finish line as a third with a few seconds.

The fans experienced a hectic stage. Defending champion Tadej Pogacar fell four kilometers before the finish and made a little moment of fright. But the favorites did not increase the pace. And the Slovenian exceptional driver was able to catch up with a few scratches.

“I didn’t really notice it, but we definitely took the pace out of the pace. That is also part of cycling,” said ARD’s German hopeful Florian Lipowitz. In the finish area, a folder had to keep a speedster after a chaotic stage shortly before the finish line.

After 156.8 kilometers around the city on the Garonne, the Swiss Mauro Schmid in the photo finish had a very thin look. Van der Poel had already missed his third tour day victory over a distance of more than 170 kilometers on the Sunday after an outline maneuver over a distance of more than 170 kilometers.

In the overall ranking everything remained the same. The Irishman Ben Healy is still 29 seconds before defending champion Tadej Pogacar and 1:29 minute before the third -placed Remco Evenepoel from Belgium. Lipowitz is 3:34 minutes behind Healy.

Experts: Duel between Van Aert and van der Poel

After the day of rest, the professionals were not spared. After the race started, the average speed was 51.7 kilometers per hour. When a French motorcyclist thundered over a field next to the route, the difference was hardly noticeable at first. It was only on Sunday that the second fastest tour stage of all time was recorded at an average speed of 50.01 kilometers per hour.

Observers were looking for a duel between the rival Wout van Aert from Belgium and the Dutch classic specialist Mathieu van der Poel. The two stars dueled as a teenager – and are considered two of the largest all -rounders in cycling. Both often competed against each other in cyclocross. In the past few years, Van Aert has often had to be satisfied as second behind his competitor at the World Cup. Van der Poel hired a 50-year-old record in February and has been able to call himself a record world champion in the cross since then.

Pyrenees trilogy is imminent

On the transition day, the defending champion Pogacar and his biggest rival Jonas Vingegaard were initially less in focus. Her eyes were already focused on the upcoming mountain stages in the Pyrenees. “I am really looking forward to the climb to Hautacam and the mountain time trial. These two stages are the key for me,” said Pogacar before the stage. The second tour week could be quite decisive, said the Slovenian. “This week is almost as difficult this year as the last week. I think we will see some big gaps in the overall ranking in the coming days,” said the three-time tour winner.

The first Pyrenees stage on Thursday also starts in and goes over 180.6 kilometers and 3,850 vertical meters into the Hautacam ski station. Before the 13.5 km long final climb with a number of 11.3 percent slope of the highest climbing category, the drivers also have to cross the 1,474 meter high COL du Soulor. It should be a day of suffering, especially for the sprinter.