The 74th rider to leave the start gate on Tour de Suisse stage 4 time trial, Mathieu van der Poel, set a scorching time of 26’38 on the flat 23.7km course to take the early lead in the individual time trial. He then watched rider after rider, time trial specialists in some cases, fail to beat his time.
Meanwhile, the Alpecin-Premier Tech rider made himself comfortable in the hot seat, going bare-chested on a very hot day, with temperatures inching beyind 30°C, and a humidity level of 51%.
Not until the final starter, the 126th rider, yellow jersey Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), who set off an hour later, did Van der Poel's time finally fall, by a mere 0.04 seconds. Van der Poel slumped forward in his chair, grimaced, and tossed his water bottle as the result sank in.
Later on, the Dutch superstar was fined 500 CHF by the Tour de Suisse commissaires jury for ‘inappropriate attire while on the hot seat, as reported by La Flamme Rouge and other media.
The 31-year-old rider came to Tour de Suisse, racing on the road for the first time since April with a goal to tune-up before the Tour, and hopefully get a stage win. But his last chance was realistically on stage 4.
Van der Poel admitted that the first two days of racing in Switzerland were difficult, after coming out of hard training, and especially in the warm temperatures, as he told AD.
“The feeling was really a lot better than the first few days. It was also less hot. I felt much better right away,” Van der Poel told Dutch newspaper AD after stage 3, where he finished fifth.
He had planned to go full gas on the time trial, testing his legs one more time before the Tour de France which starts with the team time trial in Barcelona in two weeks. His plan almost came to fruition.
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