Tour de France 2021: Stage 2 video highlights
Watch as Mathieu van der Poel attacks twice on the Mûr-de-Bretagne for an emotional win
An emotional stage 2 victory was claimed by Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) on Sunday in the 2021 Tour de France, as he picked up eight bonus seconds and moved into the yellow jersey for the first time in his career.
Crossing the line atop Mûr-de-Bretagne, he saluted his late grandfather, Raymond Poulidor, who had finished second in the Tour three times but never donned the maillot jaune.
On each of the two passes up the Mûr, Van der Poel attacked - the first time with 16.7km to go but he was caught two kilometres later. Then with 700 metres to go, he blasted up the climb to ride away from all the other favourites, followed in second by Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) going third and Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) in fifth.
Van der Poel was awash with smiles of glory, now six seconds ahead of Alaphilippe in the general classification.
Watch the stage 2 race highlights in the video above.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*
Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets
After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59
Join now for unlimited access
Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Cyclingnews is the world's leader in English-language coverage of professional cycling. Started in 1995 by University of Newcastle professor Bill Mitchell, the site was one of the first to provide breaking news and results over the internet in English. The site was purchased by Knapp Communications in 1999, and owner Gerard Knapp built it into the definitive voice of pro cycling. Since then, major publishing house Future PLC has owned the site and expanded it to include top features, news, results, photos and tech reporting. The site continues to be the most comprehensive and authoritative English voice in professional cycling.