The first week of the Tour de France has seen plenty of expected winners: defending champion Tadej Pogacar has already won two stages to add to his haul of 19 career wins at the race, while Mathieu van der Poel won his first stage since 2021 and a rivalry is developing between the two fastest sprinters, Jonathan Milan and Tim Merlier, as they battle for supremacy on the flat.
But by the end of the opening week – actually 10 days, with the first rest day falling after stage 10 – there was an altogether unexpected rider pulling on the leader’s yellow jersey, displacing Pogacar himself.
