The Dutchman shows signs of recovery from his wrist injury, but fails to beat Pogacar and Vingegaard in the final sprint
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) had mixed feelings after his third place in the spectacular first stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné.
The Dutch champion showed that he is on the right path to regain his best condition after the recent fracture to his wrist, but he did not hide his disappointment at not being able to beat Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) in the final sprint in Montluçon.
Van der Poel looked in fine form as he followed the sprints up the final categorised climb with 7km to go, then joined Vingegaard's decisive attack with 5.5km to go alongside Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep).
'I had no legs left,' Van der Poel admitted after the finish.
'As I said before the race, I haven't been able to train in the last few weeks. I was really at the limit at the top of the climb and I was hoping to recover a bit for the final sprint, but that wasn't the case. However, I'm quite happy with today's performance.'The Dutchman was the only non-climber in the leading group after the Côte du Buffon, which explains his dual reaction: satisfaction at having been with the best, but also disappointment knowing that in top form he would probably have beaten Pogačar, Vingegaard and Evenepoel in a similar sprint.
Van der Poel will have further opportunities to seek his first WorldTour victory since the 2022 Giro d'Italia, with stages 2, 3 and 5 of the Dauphiné featuring a rolling course suited to his characteristics. The intensity of the first stage should have helped him improve his condition further.
