POEL POSITION

Win hands Mathieu yellow jersey

- BY PATRICK MURPHY

MATHIEU van der Poel pipped Tadej Pogacar to victory on stage two of the Tour de France to take the yellow jersey from his teammate Jasper Philipsen yesterday.

Van der Poel edged an uphill sprint from overall favourites Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard before collapsing to the ground in Boulogne-sur-Mer, the end point of the hard-fought 209-kilometre stage from Lauwin-Planque — the longest of this year's Tour.

It was the Belgian's second career Tour stage win, and the second to bring him yellow after his win on the Mur-de-Bretagne in 2021, when he held it for six days.