Van der Poel also won stage two on the 2021 Tour de France and then dug deep to retain the yellow jersey for six gruelling days.

The Dutch cyclist is the grandson of the renowned French cyclist Raymond Poulidor, who famously finished second in the Tour de France on seven occasions. Despite his impressive record, Poulidor never claimed first place and never had the chance to don the yellow jersey.

Mathieu van der Poel said he had watched a video of the final kilometre three times in the morning. Source: AAP / EPA / Christophe Petit Tesson

“It was more emotional last time because he [Poulidor] had just died. I had so wanted to win it while he was still alive,” said Van der Poel.

There were no such scenes this time.

Team UAE’s Slovenian rider is second in the overall standings, with Visma’s Vingegaard just two seconds behind him in third.

That struggle blew up a peloton that had been largely sedate until then.

Heavy rain, stolen bicycles