“I have achieved my goal”
Rad star van der Poel fulfills the dream of teammates
Updated on July 14th, 2025 – 9:03 amReading time: 2 min.
Mathieu van der Poel has already worn the yellow jersey on this tour. On the ninth stage, he and his colleague fled to the front. That had a reason.
What Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin – Deceuninck) did at the ninth stage of the Tour de France was very big sport. The Dutchman and cyclocross world champion and his team-mate Jonas Rickaert took the flight to the front and the duo drove 170 kilometers together before van der Poel was caught up with the Peloton. After the stage, he explained the strategy – and the reason for tearing out.
“I had discussed with Jonas that we wanted to try it today. His dream is to be on the podium on the tour. I wanted to help him get the prize for the most combative driver,” said van der Poel. That is exactly what the duo did. So Rickaert then said: “I have my goal to be on the podium of the tour.”
He stated: “Yesterday I said that I would like to be on the podium of the tour, and Mathieu said we should go to the top for two. We thought the others would never let us go, but they did it.”
Van der Poel attacked early with Rickaert. The two sat down immediately after the starting shot and then kilometer together – a remarkable effort that was not rewarded for Van der Poel with the stage victory for Van der Poel. Nevertheless, Rickaert’s wish was fulfilled.
It is a shame not to have completed the attack with the day’s victory, said van der Poel, “but we delivered a good show.” Rickaert went to the reserves for this. “I think I’m just going home tomorrow. My tour is over,” he joked. The campaign brought the Alpecin drivers great respect. So Woout van Aert (Team Visma – Lease A Bike) wrote in his story on Instagram on an image by Mathieu van der Poel and Jonas Rickaert: “Chapeau.” On Monday, the drivers go to the mountains.