Mathieu van der Poel delivered one of the most remarkable performances of his career, winning the fifth and final stage of the Tour de Luxembourg with a breathtaking solo ride of nearly the entire distance.
The Dutch star attacked almost immediately after the start in Mersch on the 177 km stage to Luxembourg-Limpertsberg. From roughly the second kilometre, he found himself alone at the front and simply never looked back. Over the next 175 kilometres—and more than 2,800 metres of climbing—van der Poel powered on alone, turning the race into a personal time trial against the peloton.
Chasers, including a temporary six-rider group, tried and failed to close the gap. Teams such as Quick-Step, Lidl-Trek and EF Education-EasyPost organised pursuits, but van der Poel maintained a comfortable advantage that still stood at well over a minute in the closing kilometres.
He crossed the line in 4 hours 10 minutes 58 seconds, 1 minute 4 seconds clear of Mikkel Honoré, with fellow Dutchman Pepijn Reinderink third at 1:09. It was van der Poel’s second stage victory of the race and the longest successful solo effort of his professional career.
Afterwards he admitted the move had not been planned. “I have no idea. It wasn’t the plan before the start,” he said. “I found myself alone early on and just rode at my own tempo the whole day. I had incredible legs today.”
While van der Poel stole the show, Davide Piganzoli of Visma-Lease a Bike safely secured the overall title.