Legendary Eddy Merckx criticized Mathieu van der Poel for resigning from the Tour de France. The 26-year-old Dutch cyclist rode in a yellow jersey for six days, but left the peloton after the first mountain stage to prepare for the start of the Olympics.
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“I would never do that. You don’t go to the race knowing that you will resign prematurely,” Merckx told the Sporza server. “He should have planned his preparation for the Olympics differently. This is not good for cycling,” added the 70-year-old Belgian.
Van der Poel dressed in a yellow jersey after winning the second stage. After the eighth stage and the first mountain, however, the grandson of the famous Raymond Poulidor resigned according to plan, so that he could prepare for the start among bikers at the games in Tokyo.
Sixty million for almost two hundred wolfhounds! What is the Tour de France about?
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“He plans the season himself, no one forces him to go all the races,” said Merckx, owner of a record eleven Grand Tour triumphs. He won both the Tour and the Giro five times and added one success to the Vuelta.
He also won a record 34 stages on the Tour and his maximum this year can be surpassed by Mark Cavendish. The British cyclist has so far won three stages and is separated from Merckx in the first place of the historical order by a single triumph.
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