TOUR DE FRANCE 2025 – STAGE 2: LAUWIN-PLANQUE - BOULOGNE-SUR-MER
https://www.letour.fr/en/news/2025/stage-2/van-der-poel-keeps-the-dream-going/1325713
2: MVDP AND ALPECIN'S MAGIC NUMBER
Mathieu van der Poel claimed his 2nd Tour victory in this 2nd stage. He had already won on a stage 2, in 2021. It's also the 2nd consecutive victory for the Alpecin-Deceuninck team, the Dutchman succeeding Jasper Philipsen. The last team to win the first two stages was Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl in 2022 (Yves Lampaert then Fabio Jakobsen).
1,470: VAN DER POEL IS BACK
By winning in Boulogne-sur-Mer, Mathieu van der Poel ended a 1,470-day victory drought. The Dutchman hadn't won on the Tour since his first victory, achieved on June 27, 2021, between Perros-Guirec and Mûr-de-Bretagne.
16: POGACAR BOUNCES BACK
Tadej Pogacar was ranked 18th in the general classification yesterday, something that never happened before! The Slovenian had never been worst than 17th (stage 1 in 2020). He gained 16 positions today to move up to second.
2,534: FRANCE WITH THE WHITE JERSEY
Fourth overall, Kévin Vauquelin leads the young rider classification and takes his first white jersey. He is the first Frenchman to do so since Pierre Latour, who won this classification on July 29, 2018, 2,534 days ago!
1: GROUPAMA-FDJ IS LEADING!
Groupama-FDJ takes the lead in the team classification for the first time in its history, after 29 participations! It's also the first time a French team is leading this classification since AG2R La Mondiale's victory in 2014.
5: VAN DER POEL VS POGACAR
This is the 5th 1-2 from Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar, following stage 5 of Tirreno-Adriatico 2021, stage 2 of the Tour de France 2021, the Tour of Flanders 2023 and Paris-Roubaix 2025. It's also the second time that van der Poel-Pogacar-Vingegaard secured a podium finish, a month after it happened on stage 1 of the Critérium du Dauphiné 2025.
20: PHILIPSEN STILL IN GREEN
Although he lost his Yellow Jersey, Jasper Philipsen retained the lead in the points classification and won his 20th green jersey as best sprinter. He equaled Wout van Aert, the active rider with the most green jerseys. The record belongs to Peter Sagan with 130.
7: VAN DER POEL KEEPS THE DREAM GOING
Mathieu van der Poel took the lead in the general classification, earning his 7th yellow jersey. The previous six back to the 2021 edition, where he led from stage 2 to 7.
168: THE NETHERLANDS STILL WINNING
Mathieu van der Poel claimed the Netherlands' 168th Tour victory. It's the fifth consecutive edition with at least one Dutchman winning a stage. MVDP also earned the country's 82nd Yellow Jersey.
5: A NEW WINNER IN BOULOGNE-SUR-MER
While Lauwin-Planque was a new destination for the Tour de France, Boulogne-sur-Mer was hosting a finish for the 5th time. The first was 76 years ago, in 1949, with Belgian Norbert Callens at the top. A compatriot of Mathieu Van der Poel, Jean-Paul van Poppel, then won in 1994, before the German Erik Zabel (2001) and the Slovak Peter Sagan (2012).
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Van der Poel keeps the dream going
The stage film July 6 th 2025 - 17:54
Tour de France 2025 | Stage 2 | Lauwin-Planque > Boulogne-sur-Mer
After Jasper Philipsen’s success on day 1, Mathieu Van der Poel ruled an animated stage 2 to continue with Alpecin-Deceuninck’s dream start in the Tour de France 2025. The Flying Dutchman mastered an explosive finale in Boulogne-sur-Mer to get the better of Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike). He also takes the Maillot Jaune, just like he did in 2021 when he won stage 2 in Mûr-de-Bretagne. Philipsen lost 31’’ on the day. But he’ll have another chance to win on day 3, as the sprinters eye victory on a mostly flat stage towards Dunkirk.
The 182-man peloton gather in Lauwin-Planque for a rainy start of stage 2. Yevgeniy Fedorov (XDS-Astana) breaks away from the peloton in the first kilometre, quickly followed by Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X), Brent Van Moer (Lotto) and Bruno Armirail (Decathlon-AG2R).
Their breakaway is momentarily disrupted by a crash at km 44, bringing down the Norwegian and Kazakh national champions, but this has no impact on the race as the quartet reforms and builds up a 3'05" lead (km 45). However, their progress is closely monitored by the riders from Intermarché-Wanty and Alpecin-Deceuninck.
Milan displays his power
After an intense battle, Leknessund takes the first KOM point of the day, up Côte de Cavon-Saint-Martin (cat. 4, summit at km 104.3). The four men work well together but the peloton accelerate into the last 90 kilometres. The gap drops down to less than a minute with 65 kilometres to go.
The pace is hard in the bunch but the attackers resist until the intermediate sprint. Fedorov takes the 20 points while Jonathan Milan hits 80 km/h to narrowly edge Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step), Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) in the bunch. The breakaway is then caught with 52 km to go.
Van der Poel flies
The intensity picks up again as the riders get close to the final climbs of the day. Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) sets the pace at the bottom of the Côte du Haut Pichot. Then Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates) ups the ante and the peloton already explodes.
Onto the Côte d’Outreau, Jhonatan Narvaez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) sets a strong pace before Kevin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) accelerates at the summit. A flurry of attacks ensue, but Mathieu Van der Poel controls things and eventually unleashes a dominant sprint.
Just like in 2021, the Flying Dutchman wins stage 2 of the Tour and takes the Maillot Jaune, as his teammate Jasper Philipsen crosses the line with a gap of 31’’.
BILLY_LEBELGE
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