Mathieu Van der Poel, suffering from pneumonia, abandons the 2025 Tour de France

Some stories cruelly repeat themselves. Mathieu Van der Poel, winner of the second stage in Boulogne-sur-Mer (Pas-de-Calais) and yellow jersey holder for four days, is prematurely abandoning the 2025 Tour de France, his team announced on Tuesday, July 22. Attacking almost every day, and still battling for the green jersey, "MVDP" was one of the key figures in this edition.

As in 2021, when he packed his bags to prepare for the Tokyo Olympics, and in 2022, when he was unrecognizable on his bike, the three-time winner of the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix is throwing in the towel before the finish of the Tour de France in Paris. His team, Alpecin-Deceuninck, said in a statement that the Dutchman, who " had been showing symptoms of a common cold for several days," is suffering from pneumonia.

His condition worsened sharply on Monday afternoon, the peloton's rest day, leading to his transfer to Narbonne Hospital (Aude) in the evening. Further tests revealed lung inflammation. " Mathieu will have to rest for at least a full week. At the end of this week, further medical tests will be carried out to assess his recovery and determine the next steps in his rehabilitation," the statement continued.

Thirty-year-old Mathieu Van der Poel was no longer a contender for the general classification – before his retirement on Tuesday, he was in ^41st place, more than an hour and a half behind Tadej Pogacar. But the Dutchman still had his sights set on victory in the final stage, with a visit to Montmartre tailor-made for his punchy-sprinting skills. On Tuesday, July 15, he was declared the most combative rider of the first ten days of the Tour de France.

The Alpecin-Deceuninck team suffered its second major departure after Jasper Philipsen, also wearing the yellow jersey and a stage winner at the start of the Tour, retired after a fall.