PARIS — Cobbled classics specialist Mathieu van der Poel claimed his third Tour de France win with victory in the ninth stage, which was shortened due to intense heat.
The 31-year-old Dutchman, a former world champion, won a sprint among his three breakaway companions with Tobias Johannessen taking second and Tom Pidcock third.
“It was a super hard day. The start of the Tour was not great for our team, but I think, like always, we stayed calm,” he said.
“We have a really nice group here and we kept believing that it will turn around… but it’s really nice to go to the first rest day with a win,” he added according to AFP.
Having worked as a sprint lead-out man for his Alpecin Premier Tech teammate Jasper Philipsen – who had finished fourth and fifth in the sprint stages – in the previous two days, Van der Poel finally had a chance to go for a stage win for himself.
Reigning champion Tadej Pogacar came home in the chasing peloton six seconds behind the winner to maintain his lead in the overall standings ahead of first rest day.
The four-time champion leads two-time winner Jonas Vingegaard by 2min 42sec with Mexican Isaac del Toro a further 45sec back.
Van der Poel, a three-time winner of both the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix – the two most important one-day cobbled classics – had previously won Tour stages in 2021 and 2025.
