Van der Poel triumphs: tour guide after exciting stages!

Van der Poel triumphs: tour guide after exciting stages!

On July 6, 2025, the second stage of the Tour de France took place, which led from Lauwin-Planque to Boulogne-sur-Mer and included a distance of 209 kilometers with 2,500 meters of altitude. In an exciting decision, Mathieu van der Poel took over the yellow jersey by prevailing in the final sprint against Tadej Pogacar, who took second place. Jonas Vingegaard followed in third place. Van the Poel's second stage victory marks this performance on the tour, and he had celebrated his first in 2021. In the overall ranking it is now ahead of Pogacar and Vingegaard.

The stage was characterized by difficult conditions. A traffic chaos and pouring rain led to a delay of the start by 15 minutes. After a top group with four drivers had formed, it was caught up after 45 kilometers with a lead of over three minutes 52 kilometers before the finish. The race moved at high speed with new attacks and mountain ratings, but many initiatives were unsuccessful.

gall and other German drivers

In the overall ranking, the German Henri Gall ended the stage in the 21st place. He had lost 39 seconds the day before with risky positioning in the wind edge. Despite his residues (49 seconds) on the leading van der Poel, Gall remains optimistic and managed to rose in the decisive part of the stage. Emanuel Buchmann was the best German in the entire classification, he took 20th place while Florian Lipowitz finished 24th place.

The race not only offered sporting challenges, but was also overshadowed by theft: On the morning of the stage, eleven racing bikes worth around 13,000 euros were stolen in the team truck by Cofidis. Despite this incident, sufficient sports equipment could be provided, so that the stage took place according to the plan.

look at the upcoming stages

For Monday, the third stage is another exciting race. This leads over 178 mostly flat kilometers from Valenciennes to Dunkirk and offers the opportunity for a mass sprint. The Belgian sprinter Jasper Philipsen is acted as a favorite for his eleventh tour day victory. The increasing requirements and the intensive competition once again show the complexity of the Tour de France and the challenges that the athletes are facing.

These developments not only reflect the sporting aspects of the race, but also the changes in cycling: the average participant is 30 years old today, 1.80 m tall and weighs about 68.2 kg. The body size of the driver has increased significantly since 1945, while the weight has dropped in the same period. Such changes in professional cycling contribute to his commercialization and the current discussions about equal opportunities and financial framework conditions.

Overall, the Tour de France 2025 shows both the sporting skills of racing drivers and the challenges associated with today's requirements for athletes and team management. How the competition will develop remains to be seen, especially with regard to the next stages and the upcoming final.