Mathieu van der Poel’s INSANE 175km Solo Attack! | Škoda Tour de Luxembourg 2026 Stage 5 Highlights

Hello everyone and welcome to another video here on the Cycling Dane Extra channel as we look at the final stage of the ŠKODA TOUR DE LUXEMBOURG of 2026 and if you haven't already as well why not smash the like button and subscribe to the channel here as we have plenty of interesting things or even check out our podcast available on Spotify. Nonetheless we had had an enjoyable race full of action, full of entertainment in a very short span in this race. The riders were getting unveiled for the final time of this year's edition but we also had Maestro Van Der Poel and the Alpecin team being unveiled and a few question marks what he was going to be doing in this stage as well. So a lot of excitement but Davin Piganzoli the man in yellow was definitely the one everyone was looking to and the riders once they got underway it was going to be an interesting stage but the final stage itself a long rolling terrain with a few climbs in there not as hilly as we had on the Queen stage but certainly an interesting day nonetheless 177 kilometers starting and finishing at the same place and finishing on a circuit as well so a lot of opportunities for a lot of attacks very fitting profile for a lot of riders but unfortunately we didn't get to see what happened in the beginning and this is quite sad Maestro Van Der Poel attacking off the front from the very start at 175 kilometers ago got himself up towards the front alone no one with him and unfortunately that attack I couldn't find it anywhere so Maestro Van Der Poel absolutely catching everyone including TV cameras off guard but we can just imagine what it looked like going back to stage one where he did do a very vigorous attack there a ruthless attack there and it probably looks something similar to this. Maestro Van Der Poel obviously was a bit quiet over a number of days so we weren't quite sure how he was going to be playing this but 85.3 kilometers he had a lead of 4 minutes and 13 seconds down to the peloton a chasing group with 2 minutes and 20 seconds and the question was was he going to be able to sustain this effort in rain weather as well the pursuing group had Moritz Mauss of UAT Memorandum, Adam Idetz, Natoft of Kolo Quick, Pena and Bittendorf of the Luxembourg national team. EF Education, Easypost were trying to limit the lead that Maestro Van Der Poel had wanted to try and get in the mix for the stage win VS Melisse Bike lining up behind but it was very wet roads and Maestro Van Der Poel in the short sleeves as well very hard man as we know when it comes to these kind of extreme weather conditions and it also meant that he was leading the Man City jersey now he had surpassed Ryan Der Rink in the classification more beautiful scenery of Luxembourg that we've gotten very used to but Nizeri bridge that is not really a fitting name for a bridge 72 kilometers to go Maestro Van Der Poel sweeping up more points more KOMs he now had 4 minutes and 5 seconds but that increased with 70kms to go 4 minutes and 27 seconds the group behind is looking like they were losing touch 3 minutes and 7 seconds 2 kilometers later it increased to 3 minutes and 13 seconds 4 minutes and 32 seconds to the main group and Maestro Van Der Poel bagging another fine point in the mountains classification an absolutely superb ride by him and Maestro just a beast when he gets to show it in earnest like we see here 45.7kms he still had a lead of 3 minutes and 43 seconds down to the peloton but the chasing group were starting to feel the peloton coming from behind as they only had 16 seconds and that with 44kms to go was almost non-existent as the peloton swept them back into it with Gabriek Sabir of Lidl Trek just reeling them in and now the bigger question was going to be could this group with Davin Piganzoli bring back Maestro Van Der Poel he had 3 minutes and 40 seconds and they had all the firepower but with 25kms to go Maestro Van Der Poel still had a lead of 2 minutes and 55 seconds he was absolutely dominating this stage towards the front the engine he had and I mean the fans were a bit too close for this absolutely legendary ride we were seeing Maestro Van Der Poel absolutely riding out of his heart we don't often see him get to do these long range attacks and this one by far the longest attempt that he had done so far in his career the group behind they had 2 minutes and 48 seconds and Maestro Van Der Poel still having a bit of an advantage when he came across the finish line with 2 laps to go on this final circuit he still had 2 minutes and 40 seconds with 23kms to go Ryder Rink he finally understood that his Masters jersey was under threat so he started to lift the pace with Sergeant Carl Andersen trying to follow the wheel as well a few riders getting a bit nervous here but Ryder Rink a Dutch rider trying to limit the losses of what was being put on him by Maestro Van Der Poel but Sergeant Carl Andersen desperately trying to hang on to the Dutch rider couldn't quite do it but he took the second place there many of the riders in this group were suffering a lot on this very hard circuit but Ryder Rink just coming across the line looking behind who was going to be able to help him that was the big question as well Marian Van Der Berg was trying to do something here but we still had 21.8kms to go 2 minutes and 18 seconds so it was still a bit nervous times here in terms of if they were going to be able to have enough firepower to catch Maestro Van Der Poel less than 20kms to go and Maestro still had 2 minutes and 9 seconds we had Miguel Honare of EF Education Easypost hitting out he had enough he wanted to try and grab something for himself if he could no one was willing to follow the Dane so now is Miguel Honare chasing down Maestro Van Der Poel EF Education Easypost this was the man that they seemingly were working for all that time 16.7kms he had a gap of 1 minute and 57 seconds up to Maestro Van Der Poel Maestro Van Der Poel coming around the finish line once again getting the belt the last lap and was he going to be able to finish here when he came past the finish line again with 11.7kms we also saw Miguel Honare had not really made a massive dent into his lead still 1 minute and 49 seconds Honare looking behind hoping that there was going to be some kind of help coming from behind to assist him here Ryder Rink had started to form a move with some other riders as well Miguel Honare getting the belt with 10.6kms to go for Maestro Van Der Poel and it was 1 minute and 44 seconds the group behind was starting to swell a bit more than it was before but Maestro Van Der Poel not really caring about anything behind him with 1.2kms to go he was going up this steep ramp for the last time the fans witnessing absolute legendary stuff in person behind we were seeing Surao Quickstep having some resources trying to do something here for Ryder Rink and David Piganzoli coming to the front as well the man who was going to win the Tour of Luxembourg absolutely lifting the pace here on the steep climb showing who's been king of this week in terms of the general classification lifting the pace no one could really follow this move 600m to go Ryder Rink really showing himself in this year's Tour of Luxembourg as well but at the front the man who steals the show of the day won the first stage of the Tour of Luxembourg and here takes the final one chapeau to him his longest ever long range attack what a performance by Maestro Van Der Poel and we can say he's absolutely ready for the World Championships completely but behind him there was still action Michael Honoré managing to take second place his teammate was up there as well Ryder Rink really trying to drive this to the line and David Piganzoli getting fourth place there but what an effort by EF Education Easy Post as well but Maestro Van Der Poel steals the headlines steals the day takes the victory and what a legendary performance by Maestro and we all know I'm quite a big Maestro Van Der Poel fan so yeah this was absolutely impressive to see by him I would say one of his best rides ever but obviously it's a different level of competition different terrain but I still think it was a gutsy ride he wins it by one minute and four seconds ahead of Michael Honoré he managed to keep the second place by a few seconds down to Ryder Rink David Piganzoli in fourth place Luis Nuruca in fifth place Matteo Verchere a strong ride by him in sixth place Sankar Anasson finishing the race strong in the seventh place but the GC win belongs to this man David Piganzoli what a win by him absolutely building on that potential that we all saw in the last few seasons and this year really just taking a step up as well so confirmation of the overall Piganzoli wins it second place Matteo Verchere Gachina in third place Aurelien Panampanto in fourth place Egon Arete but confirmation there David Piganzoli gets the champagne Tata Energies second and third strong result for the team as well but what an incredible week of racing that was but anyways with that that's basically it for this video make sure to hit the like button subscribe to the channel to help us grow and why not comment down below what you thought of this victory was this the best one of much of under Paul's career in terms of sheer effort or is there something better and of course if you haven't already why not check out some of the other stages of the Tour of Luxembourg here on the channel thank you to the organizers for letting us show the race as well but with that that's basically it thank you for watching and I will see you around