Mathieu Van der Poel loses leader's jersey, blames team illness: "I was left on my own early"

In the post-race interview, Van der Poel explained why he couldn’t hold onto his leader’s jersey. "It was an extremely tough stage. Today, we just didn’t have the manpower to control the race. I was quickly left on my own and had to respond to many attacks," said the former race leader. With three teammates dropping out in the first stage due to illness, Van der Poel couldn’t rely on his full squad. As a result, he had to react early on to attacks from riders like Wilco Kelderman (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates).

Because of all the chasing, Van der Poel wasn’t able to hold onto his lead in the overall standings. "I’m happy with how my legs felt—it was a tough day. I think I managed to keep things under control pretty well," he said. Despite facing pressure from Hirschi in the final kilometer, the world champion held on, though he clearly felt the strain.

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Van der Poel has lost the leader’s jersey, but he’s not too concerned about it. "As I said before the race, the goal was more to win a stage than to go for the general classification." On Saturday, a 15.5-kilometer time trial is on the schedule. The new leader, Vansevenant, is far from a time trial specialist—does this open the door for Van der Poel to strike back? "We'll see how the last two stages go," he said cryptically.