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Pro Forma TdF25-53
Today did not start out as expected. From the very first meters of the start Jonas Richaert (Alpecin-Deceuninck) went off the front alone. He was quickly joined by his teammate Mathieu Van Der Poel. Van Der Poel has already won a stage of this Tour and has worn the Maillot Jaune for three of the nine stages (including today) thus far. I was quite surprised that the peloton was letting these two go. I wasn't alone in that surprise. By the time they reached the intermediate sprint point in La Bell Indienne twenty-four kilometers into the stage the duo of teammates had built up almost four minutes on the peloton. Giving Van Der Poel this much of an advantage seems unwise despite the 150 kilometers left to race to Chateauroux. As they rolled through the pro forma sprint - for it wasn't really a sprint - it was Van Der Poel grabbing the maximum points, naturally.