Mathieu van der Poel will defend the leader’s yellow jersey on the third stage of the Tour de France on Monday after claiming his first stage win in Boulogne.

The 30-year-old Dutchman held off the challenge of world champion Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard, who between them have won the last five Tours de France, to cross the line first in a mass sprint.

Van der Poel paid tribute to his colleagues on the Belgian Alpecin-Deceuninck team after his win, which earned him his seventh yellow jersey after he led the Grande Boucle for six day in 2021.

“I didn’t have a great day, but thanks to the team I was perfectly positioned and just about survived the climbs,” he said. “At the finish I was so fired up and it was so long since I’d won a Tour stage that I wasn’t going to let this slip.”

Van der Poel earned 10 bonus seconds to take the lead in the general classification and will hope to stay in yellow at least until Wednesday’s individual time trial stage in Caen.

On Monday the riders will travel from Valenciennes to Dunkirk, another stage with a few small climbs that is likely to end in a bunch sprint.

Cycling pedigree

Van der Poel’s second career stage win matches the achievement of his father, Adrie van der Poel, but his French grandfather Raymond Poulidor heads the family rankings with seven.

Poulidor, who died in 2019 aged 83, finished runner-up in the general classification three times and was just 55 seconds behind Jacques Anquetil in 1964, which at the time was the closest finish in the race’s history.

Joop Zoetemelk, the only Dutch Tour de France winner, won a total of 22 yellow jerseys, the most for a rider from the Netherlands.