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Van der Poel powers into Tour de France lead / Photo: © AFP
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Van der Poel powers into Tour de France lead
Alpecin's Mathieu van der Poel edged Tadej Pogacar to win the second stage of the Tour de France in a tense hilltop finale at Boulogne-sur-Mer on Sunday.
The victory saw the Dutch rider take the lead in the overall standings after depriving Pogacar of his 100th career win as around 30 riders broke away in the final 2km.
It was a second Tour de France stage win for Van der Poel, who took the yellow jersey from his teammate Jasper Philipsen, the winner of Saturday's opening stage for Alpecin.
Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard seemed at ease as he crossed the line in third with Frenchman Romain Gregoire fourth and his compatriot Julian Alaphilippe fifth.
The race got going as Pogacar and Vingegaard tested each other over the final 20km with three short, sharp climbs on narrow roads.
That struggle blew up a peloton that had been largely sedate until then.
Heavy rain left giant puddles at the tiny start town of Lauwin Planque as the 182 riders set off on the 209km run towards the coastal port.
Regional police estimated that one million spectators had lined the roadsides on the opening day of action, but the rain dissuaded that kind of turnout on Sunday.
Monday's third stage is a 178km flat run to Dunkirk, where a mass bunch sprint is expected unless the peloton gets splintered by winds as it did on stage one.
French team Cofidis had to scramble Sunday morning as they had 11 bikes stolen from a team truck during the night.
R.Moore--SFF
