Aussie Jack Haig moves into Tour de France top 10

Australian rider Jack Haig has moved into the top 10 in the Tour de France, after strong performances in both of the first two stages.

Aussie Jack Haig, left in red jersey, during stage two of the Tour de France

Australian rider Jack Haig has moved into the top 10 in the Tour de France, after strong performances in both of the first two stages.

Haig, 27, from Bendigo, is in 10th position overall after finishing sixth in the 183.5km second stage to the steep climb of Mûr-de-Bretagne. He was fourth on the second stage despite crashing in the mass pile-up caused by a spectator who leant into the path of the speeding peloton holding up a sign

Haig, who rides for Bahrain Victorious, is expected to hold his position over the next two sprint stages and is looking forward to the stage five individual time trial.

“I think you can see through the year that I’ve slowly improved each time trial and I was happy with my performance in the one at the Criterium du Dauphine,” Haig told SBS Cycling Central. “The team’s invested more into research and development there because the technology side of the sport is becoming more important, especially in time-trialling and you see that with the top teams.”

French police appealed for witnesses as they launched a probe into the giant domino-effect pile-up that marred the opening stage.

The spectator responsible held up a sign with “Granny and Grandad” written in German and looked up the road towards the race’s motorbike cameras, with her back to the speeding peloton.

German rider Tony Martin brushed into her, lost his balance and fell, causing a sickening wave of falls that swept through most of the peloton, leaving them in a tangled mess of bikes and bodies.

“The major issue on the Tour is road security,” lieutenant-colonel Joel Scherer of the French Gendarmerie said.

The woman, who was wearing a yellow raincoat, reeled away in horror when she realised the extent of her folly, but she then disappeared into the deep roadside crowds, her sign folded away beneath her arm.

Dutchman Mathieu Van der Poel won stage two to claim the overall leader’s yellow jersey and strike a blow for his famous cycling family.

The 25-year-old is the grandson of late French cycling icon Raymond Poulidor, a regular on the Tour de France podium and beloved of French fans despite never wearing the fabled yellow jersey.

After winning on his first Tour de France, Van der Poel dropped to the tarmac gasping for breath before weeping with his hands covering his face as the weight of Poulidor’s historic legacy was lifted on two dramatic ascents of the same hill, the Mur-de-Bretagne.

“Imagine how he’d feel, he’s not here,” said van der Poel of Poulidor who died in 2019 at the age of 83.

Poulidor raced the Tour de France 14 times, finishing second three times and third five times. His great rival Jacques Anquetil won the Tour five times, but French roadside fans still loved Poulidor.

A generation of French children learned to cycle to the encouraging cry of “vas y Poupou” a catchphrase using Poulidor’s nickname as a term of encouragement.

“I wish he could have been here and had a photo together, him in his yellow sponsors shirt and me in the leader’s one, so sad he’s not here,” said van der Poel.

French fans saw their own hero Julian Alaphilippe lose the yellow jersey, but cheered the Dutchman both for his gung-ho passion and for his beloved grandfather.

Defending champion Tadej Pogacar was second followed by Primoz Roglic, while Alaphilippe was fifth at eight seconds.

Alaphilippe is second overall, also at eight seconds, and pulled on the green sprint points jersey praising his Dutch rival as “the strongest man on the day”.

Pogacar is third overall at 13sec, while his older Slovenian rival Roglic is fourth, just one second adrift as last year’s battle, in which the younger man came out on top, begins to bubble early in the 2021 Tour.

Additional reporting: AFP