Van der Poel loses Swiss time trial by hundredths of a second, fined for attire

Mathieu van der Poel narrowly missed out on victory in the Swiss time trial, finishing just 0.04 seconds behind Tadej Pogačar. The Dutch cyclist waited for over an hour in the leader's hot seat under intense heat and humidity, attempting to cool down. His wait ended when Pogačar, starting last as the yellow jersey wearer, surpassed his time by a fraction of a second.

Adding to Van der Poel's disappointment, the International Cycling Union (UCI) penalized him 500 Swiss francs (approximately 540 euros) for improper attire. He had removed his jersey while waiting in the hot seat, a decision made to cope with the over 30 degrees Celsius temperature and 55% humidity. Given his annual salary is around 5 million euros, the financial penalty is unlikely to significantly impact him.

Despite the close loss and the subsequent penalty, Van der Poel remained positive about his performance. "I feel better and better, and I adapted better to the heat too. My legs were turning well," he stated. This time trial served as his final test before the team time trial, which marks the beginning of the Tour de France on July 4th in Barcelona.