Mathieu van der Poel and his colleagues from the Alpecin-Deceuninck cycling team launched a new shirt on Monday on the rest day of the Tour de France, in memory of the French former top cyclist Raymond Poulidor. ‘Poupou’ was the grandfather of Van der Poel, the Dutch leader of the team.
On the rest day, the Belgian team showed up for a training ride in a purple-yellow shirt. In 2021 they had already started the Tour de France with a similar retro shirt, inspired by the former Mercier team for which Poulidor competed. The Tour organization then gave permission to wear the kit for one day.
The shirts are for sale and the proceeds, the team reports, go to various charities aimed at helping children, young people and people with disabilities move. On Sunday, Van der Poel already had an adapted bicycle in the ninth stage, the stage that started in Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat. The bar of his white bicycle showed black and white photos from the cycling career of his grandfather, who died in 2019. Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat is the former home of cycling legend Poulidor. Van der Poel’s grandmother still lives in the French village.
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