Tour de France: Van der Poel returns to victory and the yellow jersey

The Dutchman secured the second victory in two days for the Alpecin team after that of Belgian sprinter Jasper Philipsen the day before, from whom he took the leader's jersey.

This is the second time that Van der Poel, 30, has raised his arms at the Tour de France after his very emotional victory four years ago in Mûr-de-Bretagne, which he dedicated to his late grandfather, former French champion Raymond Poulidor.

A sign of fate, the Dutchman had already been decorated with yellow and it was already the second stage, won ahead of the same Pogacar.

Van der Poel, who was the strongest in a group of around twenty riders, was very well surrounded on the podium of the stage with Pogacar and the third Vingegaard, still very active in the last 30 kilometers.

"The finish was more complicated than I thought," commented the winner. "I was very motivated, I've been waiting for this for four years and I wanted this second victory. People were calling me the favorite, but when you look at the riders who were ahead on the climbs... I'm very happy."

Several French riders distinguished themselves in the three final climbs, the Haut Pichot, Saint-Etienne-au-Mont and Outreau hills, starting with Romain Grégoire, fourth in the stage just ahead of Julian Alaphilippe, and Kevin Vauquelin, eighth.

Grégoire and especially Vauquelin, who regretted the lack of collaboration from Matteo Jorgenson, went on the attack several times, but without succeeding in breaking away from the leaders.

Van der Poel, three-time Paris-Roubaix winner and 2023 world champion, claimed his 55th career victory, confirming his near-unbeatable status in this type of finale.

Jasper Philipsen, winner the day before in Lille and first to wear the leader's jersey, crossed the line more than 30 seconds behind.