Mathieu van der Poel is at the start of the third stage of the Tour de France this Monday in the yellow jersey. On Sunday he won the leader’s sweater by winning the longest stage of the Tour de France, from Lauwin-Planque to Boulogne-sur-Mer. Van der Poel is second in the rankings of Brabantse Geweterragers in the Tour when it comes to the number of days he has worn the sweater.
In 2021, Van der Poel won the yellow sweater for the first time. He also did this during that tour in the second stage. He then led the riders from Perros Guirec over 184 kilometers to the Mûr-de-Bretagne. That sweater then kept Van der Poel a total of six stages.
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Accident
With a total of seven days in the yellow jersey, Van der Poel is still a bit away from the leader. De Brabander, who wore the leader’s jersey in the Tour most days, is Wout Wagtmans from Sint-Willebrord. He wore the yellow jersey twelve stages, in the years 1954, 1955 and 1956.
His cousin Rini Wagtmans also succeeded once, in 1971, but completely unintentionally. He drove as a servant for Eddy Merckx, but to his surprise in the second part of the first stage, which consisted of three parts, it was just a point more than his leader. That made the difference.
In the third part, Wagtmans again fully sacrificed for his Belgian leader who recaptured the Geel in Mulhouse.
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Wim van Est from Fijnaart/Roosendaal occupies third place in the ranking of Brabantse Geltrurragers, with four days in the leaderstricot. In 1951, Van Est was the first Brabander and Dutchman to conquer the yellow sweater in the Tour de France.
A day later he collapsed in a seventy meters deep and survived it barely.
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Surprise
Mike Teunissen of the Schijndel cycling association in 2019 was the most surprising Brabant geltrant carrier. He had to do the first stage lead-out do for the final sprint. He was the last rider to launch his teammate Dylan Groenewegen.
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At a kilometer from the finish, however, Groenewegen went down and Teunissen was suddenly able to go for his own chances. Teunissen still had to deal with strong opponents such as Sonny Colbrelli, Peter Sagan and Caleb Ewen.
A finish photo was needed to see who had won. It turned out to be the rider who came to Wielervereniging Schijndel as a 16-year-old.
Teunissen was the first Dutch rider in thirty years that the yellow conquered in the Tour. He was finally allowed to wear the leader stricot for two days.
Current yellow -grower Mathieu van der Poel does not have his cycling talent from a stranger. His father Adrie was also a renowned cyclist. Adrie wore the yellow jersey, in the 1984 Tour. Van der Poels Grandpa, the Frenchman Raymond Poulidor, did not succeed. But he finished three times second in the Tour de France, in 1964, 1965 and 1974, and five times third.
Other Brabant Gewarrenragers were:
- Teun van Vliet (1988, three stages in total)
- Jelle Nijdam (1987 and 1988, three stages)
- Johan van der Velde (1986, two stages)
- Jacques Hanegraaf (1984, two stages)
- Gerben Karstens (1974, two stages)
- Jan Janssen (1966 and 1968, two stages. Janssen also won the Tour de France in 1968. Joop Zoetemelk from The Hague did that in 1980 and is therefore the last Dutch winner.)
