Mathieu van der Poel becomes third generation Tour de France stage winner

On the start line of his debut Tour de France, Mathieu van der Poel is flanked by his Alpecin-Fenix teammates—each adorned in gold and purple cycling kit, a tribute to van der Poel’s grandfather and legendary French cyclist Raymond Poulidor.

A phenomenal cyclist, Poulidor—“PouPou” as he was known—finished on the podium at the Tour eight times and won many stages, but astonishingly never donned the coveted leader’s yellow jersey. Despite great success in cycling’s grand tours, the “maillot jaune” eluded Poulidor throughout his career.

Forty-five years after PouPou’s final Grande Boucle, grandson Mathieu van der Poel began his first-ever Tour de France. And on just his second day in the historic race, MVDP was able to rebound from a crash-riddled opening stage to cross the finish line of stage 2 pointing to the sky in a victorious salute to his late grandfather.

Wearing the yellow jersey as the Tour’s official race leader, van der Poel has written a new chapter of family history. “It’s for you, [grandpa],” said van der Poel, dedicating the win to his grandfather, who will finally wear the “maillot jaune” in the spirit of his grandson.

As is customary for the race leader, Mathieu van der Poel began stage 3 in the yellow jersey—and aboard a strikingly color-coordinated yellow Canyon Aeroad CFR.

As Mathieu van der Poel has proven, Canyon’s Tour-winning pro bikes set the benchmark of elite performance—from the Ultimate, a classic road racer with aero-optimization, to the Speedmax, a time trial and triathlon-dominating speed weapon.