Jonas Vingegaard and Mathieu van der Poel take wins in first of the post-Tour de France criteriums
Traditional post-Tour festivities kick off with events in Boxmeer and Aalst with Ciccone, Philipsen, Poels also taking part
It's the week after the Tour de France and the attention of the racing world has quickly turned to the second edition of the Tour de France Femmes.
However, the stars of the men's peloton are still basking in the glow of the calendar's biggest race and taking on the traditional round of post-Tour criteriums.
Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and green jersey winner Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) are among the riders in action at a variety of criteriums this week along with polka dot jersey winner Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) and stage winners including Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious), Michał Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers), and Jordi Meeus (Bora-Hansgrohe).
Monday brought the first batch of 'races' in Belgium and the Netherlands which will pack the upcoming week and even stretch into August.
In the Dutch town of Boxmeer on Monday it was Vingegaard who came out on top, beating Poels and Mike Teunissen (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) to the line. Over in Aalst in Belgium, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) took the win ahead of Philipsen and Ciccone.
Tour runner-up and white jersey winner Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) is the notable absentee from the week's festivities. The Slovenian was due to ride in Aalst but pulled out last week, citing the need to recover after the Tour.
The events are, of course, far from official UCI races. Tour jersey winners typically race in the famous jerseys won during the race, having picked up a nice appearance fee for taking part.
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The biggest stars ride at the front to contest the win with no real racing for the line – instead, the criteriums are put on more for the public spectacle than the competition.
Post-Tour de France 2023 criteriums
July 24, Boxmeer: 1 Jonas Vingegaard, 2 Wout Poels, 3 Mike Teunissen
July 24, Aalst: 1 Mathieu van der Poel, 2 Jasper Philipsen, 3 Giulio Ciccone
July 25, Surhuisterveen: Giulio Ciccone, Wout Poels, Fabio Jakobsen, Carlos Rodríguez, Biniam Girmay...
July 25, Roeselare: Jasper Philipsen, Michał Kwiatkowski, Jordi Meeus, Yves Lampaert, Oliver Naesen, Tiesj Benoot...
July 26, Chaam: Mathieu van der Poel, Jasper Philipsen, Wout Poels, Sam Oomen, Fem van Empel, Lonneke Uneken...
July 27, Wateringen: Wout Poels, Cees Bol, Jordi Meeus, Ramon Sinkeldam, Danny van Poppel, Dylan van Baarle...
July 28, Heerlen: Wout Poels, Wilco Kelderman, Danny van Poppel...
July 29, Maarheeze: Wout Poels, Jordi Meeus, Mike Teunissen...
July 30, Emmen: Wout Poels, Bauke Mollema, Ramon Sinkeldam, Danny van Poppel...
July 31, Roosendaal: Jasper Philipsen, Wout Poels, Giulio Ciccone, Fabio Jakobsen, Annemiek van Vleuten, Fem van Empel...
Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired full-time. Before joining the team, she had written for numerous major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly and Rouleur. She writes and edits at Cyclingnews as well as running newsletter, social media, and how to watch campaigns.