Tour de France: Mathieu van der Poel edges out Tadej Pogacar in sprint finish to win stage two

Mathieu van der Poel edged out Tadej Pogacar in a sprint finish to win stage two of the Tour de France and claim the leader’s yellow jersey.

The Dutch rider, who also won the same stage in 2021, held off the Slovenian on the line after surging to the front with 500 metres to go on the longest stage in this year’s Tour, a rolling 209.1km route from Lauwin-Planque to Boulogne-sur-Mer.

Two-time champion Jonas Vingegaard finished third behind his great rival Pogacar, while Britain’s Oscar Onley crossed the line in sixth.

“It was super difficult, the final [part], harder than I thought,” Van der Poel said.

“I was really motivated because it’s been four years since I won my first stage on the Tour de France so it was about time I won a second one. Of course people put me as a favourite but if you see the riders that were in front on the climbs, I think I did a really good job to be there.

“It’s a dream for a team, these first two days, and everything that comes now is just a bonus.”

A fairly sedate stage sparked into life on three punchy climbs in the final 40km as a series of attacks split the peloton to leave a reduced group of riders at the front of the race.

And Van der Poel, who held the maillot jaune for six days four years ago, underlined his status as the favourite for a classics-style stage in a thrilling finale.