Month: June 2021

On his first Tour de France, Mathieu van der Poel won Stage 2 after an impressive onslaught at Mûr-de-Bretagne, which also awarded him the coveted yellow jersey.

“I imagine how (Poupou) he would be proud of me. It’s a shame he’s not here, but there’s nothing we can do. I knew this was my last chance to take the yellow jersey, it’s amazing,” said Van der Poel after finishing the race. He dedicated this win to his grandfather, French cycling legend Raymond Poulidor, who participated 14 times at la Gran Boucle but never wore the yellow jersey.

Van der Poel’s had laid out his intentions 17 km ahead of the arrival, on the first ascent of Mur-de-Bretagne, where he managed to get precious seconds. “I gambled a little bit. I went on the first climb because I knew I needed the bonus seconds if I wanted the jersey. It was my last chance to get it,” Van der Poel said.

In the general classification, Van der Poel leads with 8 seconds followed by Julian Alaphilippe and who won stage 1. The Alpecin-FENIX team captain also leads the climber classification, which awarded him the polka-dot jersey.

As a sponsor of the Alpecin-FENIX team, we celebrate Van der Poel’s historic achievement and we are proud of the team’s performance.

Ahead of Alpecin-FENIX debut in Le Tour de France, the team is paying tribute to the French legend Raymond Poulidor, grandfather of Alpecin-Fenix rider, Mathieu van der Poel. This took place at the official team presentation in Brest, on June 24. On that occasion, the Alpecin-Fenix riders wore a cycling kit inspired by the colours that Raymond Poulidor used to wear during his entire career, the former French Mercier teams.

Between 1962 and 1976, Poulidor had competed no less than 14 times in the world’s biggest cycling race, Le Tour de France. For eight times he had finished la Grande Boucle on the podium in Paris, but without having worn the yellow jersey for a single day. Now, 45 years later, his grandson Mathieu van der Poel is set to make his debut in le Tour de France. It is now up to him to chase the yellow dream and thus personify the heritage his grandfather left him and the whole cycling world.

To show the team’s commitment to this heritage, and help children chasing their dreams, a fully dedicated website has been developed. On the webshop, fans are invited to buy a “Merci Poupou” replica shirt or cycling cap. The proceeds of this online sale will go to a charity project that support children and teenagers in sports activities.

Visit www.mercipoupou.com or download the press release to have more information about.

Mathieu van der Poel is back! During an exciting final sprint against Schachmann, Mathieu managed to sprint a second ahead to secure his fifth road victory of the season. Here’s what he had to say:

“It was a super fun stage, especially with the rainy conditions at the end. It looked a bit like a classics parcours, something that suits me very well. The team did an amazing job, making the race hard like I asked. I’m really happy to finish it off!”

Our 29 years old Belgian champion Dries De Bondt has received the Combattività Award, which stands for exceptional combativeness during the Giro d’Italia 2021. 

De Bondt was able to knock himself out in the attacking work and in between he also placed himself neatly in a chopped bunch sprint. He became 6th in the 10th stage, 4th in the gravel stage and 11th in Victor Campenaerts’ triumphal march, but above all he had a nose for brilliant escapes.

During his participation in this Grand Tour Dries never thought about quitting, which makes him proud. His perseverance and combativeness also made him the best in the intermediate sprints ranking, which got him another prize: the Traguardi Volanti. 

Next to De Gendt and Gilbert, De Bondt is the third Belgian rider who may call himself “Super Combattivo”. As a proud sponsor of the Alpecin-FENIX Cycling Team, FENIX congratulates Dries de Bondt on his titles!