USSEL, France — Mathieu van der Poel might enjoy the day off more than anyone.
Van der Poel timed his attack perfectly to win the hilly ninth stage of the Tour de France in a sprint finish Sunday, when two-time reigning champion Tadej Pogacar kept the overall leader’s yellow jersey heading into the first rest day of the three-week, 21-stage race.
Van der Poel was in a group of four contesting the stage victory. The lead rider for Alpecin-Premier Tech accelerated with some 200 yards to go, then held off Norwegian cyclist Tobias Johannessen of Uno-X Mobility and British cyclist Tom Pidcock of Pinarello-Q36.5 before spreading his arms as he crossed the line. All three were timed at 3 hours, 27 minutes, 51 seconds.
“It was a really hard stage after a hard week for the team,” Van der Poel said.
In the previous two stages Friday and Saturday, relatively flat tests that allowed sprinters to shine, Van der Poel rode hard to put teammate Jasper Philipsen up front near the end of the route. In both cases, though, Philipsen was denied as fellow Belgian sprinter Tim Merlier of Soudal Quick-Step earned back-to-back stage wins.
Van der Poel, who was born in Belgium but competes under the flag of the Netherlands, said the brutally hot start of the Tour de France over the past week sapped his strength.
“The heat takes away a lot of energy, and I had the feeling that I wasn’t recovering properly in the first few days,” he said. “Today was the first stage when I felt I had the legs.”
It was the third career stage win in the Tour de France for the 31-year-old Dutchman, whose vast pedigree includes multiple victories in one-day classics and cyclo-cross world championship titles. He is also a former road race world champion, and cycling runs through his veins.
His maternal grandfather was French cyclist Raymond Poulidor, who raced in the 1960s and ’70s, finishing second on the Tour de France three times and third five times. Nicknamed “Poupou” and “The Eternal Runner-up,” he was adored by French fans.
Van der Poel was asked if he had thought about Poulidor, who died in 2019, during the stage.
“Always,” he told French television, “every day on the Tour is special.”
Pogacar, seeking a record-tying fifth overall victory in cycling’s most prestigious Grand Tour, finished six seconds behind Van der Poel in a group that included two-time champion Jonas Vingegaard.
The 27-year-old Slovenian, who rides for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, maintained his overall lead of 2 minutes, 42 seconds over second-place Vingegaard of Team Visma-Lease a Bike, the 29-year-old Dane who is his main rival. Pogacar’s teammate Isaac del Toro is 3:27 back in third.
The 96-mile trek from Malemort to Ussel in central France was shortened by 18-plus miles due to extreme heat. Organizers made the decision Saturday night because the local department was placed on red alert by French weather forecasters.
The undulating stage favored all-rounders, known in cycling jargon as “baroudeurs” (French for scrappers) because of their hard-riding yet versatile style and penchant for attacking. An early breakaway group of five featured French veteran Julian Alaphilippe — a two-time road racing world champion — but they were soon caught.
Some of the best “baroudeurs” are also strong in the classics, such as Van der Poel and Filippo Ganna. Those two and two-time Olympic mountain bike champion Tom Pidcock formed part of a eight-strong breakaway group with 50 miles left. Lurking behind was Pogacar, whose renowned ability to attack from anywhere made him a threat even though he had no need to contest the stage win, given none of the breakaway group were considered contenders for overall victory.
However, it was Van der Poel who attacked with 15 miles remaining, and the lead group was quickly slashed to four, with Ganna among those dropped. Van der Poel’s superior power told in the dash to the line.
Monday is the first of two rest days in the race, and it will set up a hard mountain climb in Tuesday’s 10th stage.