It was a tough day for Mathieu van der Poel, but the reward has arrived. The rider from Hoogerheide is again a thin bearer in the Tour de France. Father Adrie van der Poel watched in excitement and is proud of how his son is doing so far in the Tour. “The Tour has largely been successful.”
Mathieu van der Poel reached the finish in eighth on Thursday in the sixth stage. He is now in the lead in the rankings with one second. “Today, I think, was a particularly tough stage,” says father Adrie. “The fight took a long time, there were many altimeters and it was hot. It did take its toll with many riders.”
It was exciting whether Van der Poel could conquer the yellow jersey on Thursday. “I have been watching and counting. It was exciting. He had to start the last climb with a lead, because it was a tough day for him. Now he has the reward. That’s super beautiful.”
A one second lead. “A minute’s lead would have been a bit easier, but this second is also fine. He could also have been in the negative for two seconds, those are certain things that you are not completely in control.”
“The first ten days went well.”
During the Tour, the former cyclist and cyclist looks at the stages of his son as much as possible. Although that doesn’t always work. “I’m just working, so I miss a lot of pieces. Today I could see a piece, but yesterday that didn’t work,” says Adrie van der Poel.
How things are going for son Mathieu in the coming days is still waiting. His father is already proud of him now. “It is super important for now that he recovers well. But I think he can be proud of how he has driven the Tour so far. And the team too. He had the yellow sweater and two ride victories for a few days. The first ten days are super important and that went well. The Tour has largely been successful.”
