Paris [France]: A wild day at the Tour de France ended with Jasper Philipsen taking his second win. Visma-Lease managed to get in the break, prompting a fierce chase in crosswinds.
After the race came back together, Biniam Girmay set his team to work in pursuit of a fourth win, but ultimately it was Philipsen who won the day.
A crash-strewn finish after crosswind chaos in south-west France resulted in a second sprint win for Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) over his Belgian rival Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) in Pau.
Tour de France is an annual men’s multiple-stage bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest of the three Grand Tours (the Tour, the Giro d’Italia, and the Vuelta a Espana).
Philipsen came from deep to show his class and hold off Van Aert and the German Pascal Ackermann (Israel-Premier Tech) after a crash on the home straight dashed the hopes of Belgian champion Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny) and a handful of other outsiders.
The in-form green jersey Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty) could only finish a distant fourth after his hopes of a famous fourth win did not materialise after a stage that felt more like a hilly spring classic than a sprint stage of the Tour de France, a release said.
The sight of the yellow jersey Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) taking ninth place in the bunch gallop only emphasised the bonkers nature of the 165.3km ride from Agen, which was animated from the get-go as blustery winds twice tore through the peloton and caused dangerous splits and some serious soul-searching, it added.
Pogacar retained his 1’06” lead over Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) ahead of a decisive weekend in the Pyrenees, with defending champion Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) lurking in third place a further eight seconds back.
All three riders found themselves in a split off the front of the peloton in the opening hour after winds on exposed roads saw six Visma riders and half a dozen others go clear in pursuit of a select breakaway that included the world champion Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Pogacar’s UAE team-mate Adam Yates.
After this select group returned to the peloton, a second wave of echelons occurred around 60km from the finish with the peloton splitting in three. The first two groups came back together after swallowing up the breakaway – but the final group on the road, which included sprinters Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) and Fernando Gaviria (Movistar), would never see the front of the race again.
The attacks rained down on the lumpy approach to Pau but the main field eventually came back together in time for the finale, which was marred by a crash that saw a handful of riders hit the deck after Belgium’s Maxim van Gils – bringing up his Lotto Dstny team-mate De Lie – violently clipped the shoulders of a retreating Amaury Capiot of Arkea B&B Hotels, the release said.
The incident occurred on the opposite side of the road as the battleground occupied by Philipsen, Van Aert and Ackermann, who put on a show to finish in that order after a fast and unforgiving three-and-a-half hours in the saddle.
The mountains that loomed on the metaphorical horizon served as no deterrent to a group of 22 riders that went clear shortly after the start of a day with no shortage of contenders for the combativity prize.
Joining Van der Poel was one of his rainbow predecessors in Poland’s Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers), the Slovenian Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious), De Lie and his Lotto Dstny team-mate Brent Van Moer, and the polka dot jersey of Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility).
The breakaway had not been clear for long before the first gusts of wind began to wreak havoc. An acceleration from Vingegaard’s Visma team was expertly covered by Pogacar and Evenepoel as a dozen zipped clear for a brief foray ahead of the pack. If they were soon pegged back, it was a precursor to what was still in store.
With Yates threatening the general classification places of riders from Visma-Lease a Bike, Soudal Quick-Step and Ineos Grenadiers, an alliance soon formed on the front to keep the gap no bigger than a minute.
The upshot of the fast pace and early drama also involved the UAE team of the race leader, with Spain’s Juan Ayuso – struggling with illness for a few days – forced to become the 17th rider to abandon after losing touch with the peloton. The climbing lieutenant’s presence in the mountains could well prove to be a huge loss for Pogacar in his bid to win a third Tour and complete a famous Giro-Tour double.
Perhaps frustrated by the continued presence of Yates, Denmark’s Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility) put in an attack with around 90km to go which resulted in a quartet going clear of the break, with Cort joined by Romain Gregoire (Groupama-FDJ), Julien Bernard (Lidl-Trek) and Kwiatkowski.
They soldiered on but were caught when crosswinds injected fresh carnage into proceedings. Once again, the “Big Three” all found themselves on the right side of the splits – although Cavendish’s hopes of a record-extending 36th stage win were canned when the Manx veteran missed out in the third group on the road alongside Colombia’s Gaviria, Germany’s Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) and Ireland’s Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale).
Philipsen, Girmay, Ackermann and Stage 6 winner Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-AlUla) all found themselves in the first group, while the likes of Arnaud Demare (Arkea B&B Hotels) and Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) were in a second group which managed to battle back on once both the breakaway and leading quartet were swallowed up with 50km remaining.
Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) and Norway’s Tobias Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) attacked ahead of the day’s two categorised climbs, over which the latter picked up the solitary KOM point on both occasions before they were brought to heel.
With Dutch champion Groenewegen distanced on the climbs, Belgian duo Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek) and Van Moer of Lotto Dstny tried their luck on the approach to Pau before being joined by French duo Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies) and Christophe Laporte (Visma-Lease a Bike).
But by now, Girmay’s Intermarche-Wanty team – who still had three support riders in the main group – committed bodies to the chase, and it all came back together.
A late dig from the indefatigable man in polka dots, Abrahamsen, came to nothing before Laporte dragged Van Aert to the front with a kilometre remaining. Second on Thursday, Van Aert was looking to go one better in Pau – and he benefited from the perfect lead-out by Laporte.
But a slight hesitation and look to the left gave Philipsen the chance to pounce – and he roared past his compatriot on the home straight to take his second win of the race after a troubled start to the Tour, doing so without the help of his usual pilot Van der Poel, who had been caught out by the crosswinds after his cameo in the break.
“It was full gas from the start and the bunch never slowed down,” a relieved Philipsen said after doubling up. “There were crosswinds and a big group ahead. We had two guys in [the break] with Mathieu [van der Poel] and Axel Laurance so I thought they would continue to the line.
“But the peloton kept on going and I kept on believing because the feeling was good, much better than previous weeks. I could start my sprint with confidence and I’m happy nobody could pass.
“He [Wout van Aert] was piloted perfectly by Christophe Laporte. I was a bit in the wheel but I launched early and I was a bit in the wind. I could pass him so I’m really happy with my sprint and it was a good feeling. My best feelings so far in the Tour de France.
“We [Alpecin-Deceuninck] didn’t have the best start – and some bad luck – but I’m really happy we could turn it around. Already with two stage wins, it’s not a bad Tour. But we always want more so we’ll have to go day by day and enjoy also the victory today.”
Victory for Philipsen saw last year’s green jersey come within 75 points of Girmay in the points classification with just one more sprint remaining – next Tuesday’s Stage 16 to Nimes.
Until then, the focus shifts to the battle for yellow and polka dots with a weekend double-header in the Pyrenees.
Saturday’s Stage 14 features the legendary Col du Tourmalet ahead of a summit finish at Pla d’Adet while Sunday’s Stage 15 on Bastille Day is arguably the queen stage of the race, with four first-category climbs ahead of the brutal finish at Plateau de Beille.
Fireworks are expected between Pogacar, Vingegaard and Evenepoel, the three all-rounders of this thrilling 111th edition of the world’s biggest bike race.