Mathieu van der Poel’s agony in the Tour de France seems to have no end. Van der Poel also drove with his soul under his arm in the sixth stage to Longwy in Northern France. The leader of Alpecin-Deceuninck had to release early in the stage in the peloton and thought a few times to get off.
Mathieu van der Poel eventually finished 145th at more than ten minutes from stage winner Tadej Pogacar. “It was a very long day for me. I was hoping it would calm down a bit and I hesitated a few times to get out of the way, but I continued anyway. It was not a nice day,” said the rider. the NOS.
He admitted that even after Wednesday’s ride, he had already discussed within the team whether to leave. “But I also know that if I had stopped it would start to wring after two days at home. I want to keep going, but if it continues like this tomorrow, I don’t think I’ll hang on for another day. It’s no use to continue driving if you are released at the first.”
His trainer Kristof De Kegel reported from Belgium that Van der Poel had better continue. “I think he will reap the benefits of this next spring,” said De Kegel at the Belgian Sporza .
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