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<\/p>\nMathieu van der Poel made it two wins from two stages for Alpecin-Deceuninck at the 2025 Tour de France, winning a frantic stage into Boulogne-sur-Mer on Sunday afternoon and taking over the race lead from his team-mate Jasper Philipsen.<\/p>\n
Overall race favorites Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard finished second and third respectively.<\/p>\n
After the wind had played a decisive role in stage one, the race was greeted by torrential rain in the start town of Lauwin-Planque on Sunday, a downpour that delayed the start and made the first hour of racing a pretty miserable affair for the riders.<\/p>\n
The day\u2019s breakaway consisted of four riders \u2014 Bruno Armirail, Yevgeniy Fedorov, Brent Van Moer and Andreas Leknessund \u2014 and the peloton was more than happy for them to plug away at the front, eventually catching them shortly after the intermediate sprint, a point of the race that generated some minor drama between the sprinters.<\/p>\n
That regrouping ushered in a frantic final 50 kilometres, with the GC leaders moving to the front on the third category C\u00f4te du Haut Pichot and then maintaining a furious pace into the foot of the C\u00f4te de Saint-\u00c9tienne-au-Mont and then again into the C\u00f4te d\u2019Outreau.<\/p>\n
But it was the final climb to the finish where the real fireworks took place, with Red Bull-BORA-Hansgrohe\u2019s Florian Lipowitz going clear, then a popular \u2014 if brief \u2014 attack from Tudor Cycling\u2019s Julian Alaphilippe inside the final kilometer, before Van der Poel went full Van der Poel, outsprinting Pogacar to take both the win and the yellow jersey.<\/p>\n
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(Loic Venance\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Jacob Whitehead and Tim Spiers look back at the key moments from Sunday\u2019s stage.<\/p>\n
Find all of The Athletic\u2019s Tour de France coverage here: nytimes.com\/athletic\/tag\/cycling<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Van der Poel moves into yellow on stage two \u2014 just as in 2021<\/p>\n When Van der Poel led out Pogacar with 500 meters to go, it looked as if he was generating the perfect setup for the Slovenian to ride into yellow.<\/p>\n The finish was uphill and draining, plus the final 15 km had been raced at a furious pace which had cracked the peloton into several groups. Surely Van der Poel couldn\u2019t hold Pogacar off?<\/p>\n That he did with a wheel to spare confirmed his superhero status. He led out the sprint and then won it, beating Pogacar into second place for the third time this season, after doing so at Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix.<\/p>\n It was only the Dutchman\u2019s second Tour stage win. As with his first in 2021, it came on stage two and once again it put him into the yellow jersey.<\/p>\n That means Van der Poel has twice achieved something his grandfather \u2014 French cycling legend Raymond Poulidor \u2014 never managed.<\/p>\n Despite Poulidor winning seven Tour de France stages and finishing in the top 10 on 11 occasions in the 1960s and 1970s, he was never able to pull on cycling\u2019s most prestigious item of clothing.<\/p>\n Mathieu back in yellow 4 years later \ud83d\udc9b<\/p>\n Mathieu de retour en Jaune 4 ans apr\u00e8s \ud83e\udef6#TDF2025<\/a> l @MaillotjauneLCL<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/aTyIlp8WxE<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Tour de France\u2122 (@LeTour) July 6, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Van der Poel collapsed on the ground at the finish line, having completely drained himself in pushing back the tide of not only Pogacar but Vingegaard too.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s too fast for me,\u201d Pogacar conceded after the race.<\/p>\n The win was made all the more impressive by the fact Van der Poel \u2014 who had powered the pack up the final categorized climb of the day three km out \u2014 couldn\u2019t even see the finish line until late, with a right-hander taking the peloton onto the short final straight, meaning he had to time his effort to perfection.<\/p>\n \u25b6\ufe0f Relive the electric last km of stage 2 won by \ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\uddf1 @mathieuvdpoel<\/a> \ud83d\udcaa<\/p>\n \u25b6\ufe0f Revivez le dernier kilom\u00e8tre explosif de l’\u00e9tape 2 remport\u00e9e par \ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\uddf1 @mathieuvdpoel<\/a> \ud83d\udcaa#TDF2025<\/a> | @Continental_fr<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/IVCBHL95Ya<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Tour de France\u2122 (@LeTour) July 6, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cIt was super difficult, the final was actually harder than I thought,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI was really motivated. It\u2019s been four years since I won my first stage on the Tour de France so it was about time I won a second one.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople put me as a favourite (for the stage) but if you see which riders were in front on the climbs, I did a really good job today to be there.<\/p>\n \u201cThe climbs were harder than I expected, it was a hard pace as well, you saw the second-to-last climb there were maybe three guys left on top.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a dream for the team, the first two days\u2026 everything else that comes now is just a bonus.\u201d<\/p>\n Tim Spiers<\/p>\n Vingegaard aggression a new chapter in Pogacar rivalry<\/p>\n The day before the 2025 Tour de France began, Vingegaard sat in a cramped room and insisted to 100 journalists that this was a new version of the Tour de France champion before them.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m more heavy now than I was last year, but it\u2019s muscle and it gives a lot more power. Let\u2019s see if that\u2019s enough,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Its purpose? In the past, Vingegaard has been criticised for passivity, for waiting too long to attack. Emerging as a wispy climber, his (relatively) heavier-set rival Pogacar, in contrast, will attack for any bonus seconds, on any stage.<\/p>\n Under the Dane\u2019s prior perspective, when you have the strongest team, why open yourself up to unnecessary risk?<\/p>\n Perhaps it is because, strength-wise, UAE Team Emirates\u2019 squad now matches Visma-Lease a Bike\u2019s, but at some stage, Vingegaard\u2019s strategy has changed.<\/p>\n On stage one, his effort split the peloton in the crosswinds, causing Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic to lose time.<\/p>\n On Sunday, he attacked on a downhill with five km to go, attempting to gap Pogacar. Though the group eventually came back together, it showed Vingegaard\u2019s continued intent \u2014 he then finished third in the sprint behind Van der Poel and Pogacar.<\/p>\n Vingegaard surveys the result of some of his new-found aggression on the Cote d\u2019Outreau during stage two. (Bernard Papon \u2013 Pool \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n Asked what was behind the shift in attitudes, his team boss Grischa Niermann was blunt.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah I think he\u2019s just f***ing good,\u201d he replied. \u201cI think he can go anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI did it for fun!\u201d Vingegaard shouted over the top of him, from his warm-down bike.<\/p>\n Back at the Visma team bus, there was optimism at their proactive team leader. The plan, originally, had been to ride for Wout van Aert, before his lack of form on the day switched plans towards Vingegaard.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re a sprinter now,\u201d joked his American teammate Matteo Jorgenson. \u201cI like it. You said in the press conference you were huge, so you have to back it up now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t grow this for nothing,\u201d Vingegaard replied. The iconic M\u00fbr-de-Bretagne on stage seven will be next opportunity to see just how significant that growth has been.<\/p>\n Jacob Whitehead<\/p>\n Lauwin-Planque\u2019s big day turns into a damp squib<\/p>\n The Tour de France hates being late. The race derives so much income from television revenue that any shift to the schedule is an abhorrence. On stage two, in the small French village of Lauwin-Planque, they had no choice.<\/p>\n At 12.05pm local time, just ten minutes before the planned start, the Red Bull-BORA-Hansgrohe bus was still mired in traffic. They were last in the queue, but they were just one team of many \u2014 of 23 teams at the race, only Astana and Bahrain-Victorious arrived at anything approaching \u2018on time\u2019.<\/p>\n Think a few of us might be late to the stage start today \ud83d\ude05 #TDF2025<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/Ax18Zi2EWu<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 EF Pro Cycling (@EFprocycling) July 6, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The issue? Lauwin-Planque\u2019s road system had been overwhelmed by a thunderstorm which had dumped both a foot of rain and a fleet of cars on the town. The Tour is keen to retain stage starts in these villages, a nod to French cycling\u2019s rural tradition. But their charm is also the issue \u2014 one road in, one road out. The roots of the sport were not watered here, but drowned.<\/p>\n It left the stars of the peloton, Pogacar and Vingegaard alike, rushing out their buses to strap on their rain jackets and adjust their bikes.<\/p>\n The Tour\u2019s caravan is growing exponentially, and at some point race organisers will have a choice to make. What are they willing to give up? To trim back the size of the race, including money-spinning VIP areas, or its unique pastoral idyll?<\/p>\n The day\u2019s break contend with the wet conditions at the start of stage two. (Anne-Christine Poujoulat \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n Jacob Whitehead<\/p>\n What went on at the intermediate sprint?<\/p>\n It\u2019s been a high-octane, high-pressure opening two days of the race with nervous riders and stressed teams terrified to get caught on the wrong side of splits, or get involved in a crash, or miss their big shot at a stage win.<\/p>\n Still, it was slightly peculiar to see Jonathan Milan completely blow his top after a minor altercation in the dash for, well, fifth place in an intermediate sprint.<\/p>\n Milan even won the sprint to pick up 11 points in the battle for the green jersey, pipping Tim Merlier and Biniam Girmay in a three-pronged dead heat.<\/p>\n However, Milan was apoplectic with Girmay for leaving out a rigid elbow as the pair jostled for position a few yards from the line. Milan then responded by leaning into Girmay\u2019s line and even nicking his team-mate\u2019s wheel.<\/p>\n After the pair sat up, Milan furiously gesticulated at Girmay, waving his arm and pinching his fingers against his thumb in a manner that can only be described as extremely Italian.<\/p>\n Intermediate sprint drama with Jonathan Milan pushing Biniam Girmay off his teammate’s wheel with 500m to go.#TDF2025<\/a> \ud83d\udcfa: Peacock pic.twitter.com\/mxxheMLUne<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 NBC Sports Cycling (@NBCSCycling) July 6, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n It was all a reflection not just on the remarkable intensity of the first couple of days, but also Milan\u2019s frustration at having dropped the ball on day one when missing the late split in the peloton.<\/p>\n But it was also a bit daft \u2014 and summed up perfectly by Girmay\u2019s Intermarche-Wanty team on social media.<\/p>\n Apparently Milan is not happy that Bini eats pizza with pineapples \ud83e\udd37\u200d\u2642\ufe0f https:\/\/t.co\/Gm23IdBw2y<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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