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Finishing It Off! TdF26-164
Amazingly, Mathieu Van Der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) found the legs after chasing Tadej Pogacar to hold off the fast-closing peloton in the finally six hundred meters of the Tour de France. As he did the sprinter's bike throw he looked to his right to see his teammate Jasper Philipsen celebrating. At first, I thought that Philipsen had outsprinted his teammate, but no, he was celebrating MDVP's stage victory on the Champs Elysees. That means that their team went first and second in the final stage of the 113th Tour de France. It was the Maillot Vert taking third on the stage. Mads Pedersen gave up five points to Philipsen, but it was hardly enough points to change the final destination of the sprinters' jersey. Behind it was Biniam Girmay, Olav Kooij, Max Kanter, and Anthony Turgis with the less than successful sprints. Nevertheless, it is no small feat to have made it over the alps and three times over the climb up Montmartre to even be in the top ten on the stage.