Phil Bauhaus lost his bearings in the heated final, instead Jasper Philipsen finally became the king of the sprinters at the 110th Tour de France with his triple. The 1500-watt man from Belgium celebrated his third victory this year on the magnificent Quai Louis XVIII boulevard in Bordeaux.
After 169.9 kilometers, Philipsen triumphed in front of British veteran Mark Cavendish, who still has to wait for his record stage victory. Bauhaus, who had finished on the podium twice in Bayonne and Nogaro, had no chance this time and finished seventh.
Superstar Cavendish, meanwhile, was very close to his 35th stage win, which would have finally surpassed legend Eddy Merckx. In 2010, at the last guest appearance of the tour in Bordeaux, Cavendish triumphed.
Philipsen and van der Poel a congenial duo
“We can’t be proud enough of how we did it as a team. We’re trying everything we can. Three wins already. Anyone who would have told me that a week ago I would have thought crazy,” said Philipsen.
Who is going to beat Philipsen, who kicks over 1500 watts in the finals, in the mass finishes? Together with his world-class driver Mathieu van der Poel, who paves his way like a bulldozer in the sprints, the 25-year-old forms a congenial duo. If you add in Philipsen’s victories in Carcassonne and Paris last year, he has won all of the last five mass sprints. Hard to believe that he still had the nickname “Jasper Disaster” up until then.
“He follows me with his eyes closed,” enthuses van der Poel about his team-mate. The classic car specialist, who triumphed at Milan-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix this year, is himself a potential winner.
No movement in the standings
The favorites for the overall victory around the Danish title defender and yellow wearer Jonas Vingegaard were able to relax a little after the spectacular Pyrenees stages in the field, if this was possible at temperatures of 33 degrees. Vingegaard has a 25-second lead over his big opponent Tadej Pogacar, who caused more tension with his victory in Cauterets-Cambasque. Behind is the Australian Jai Hindley from the German Bora-hansgrohe team in third place.
Best German remains Emanuel Buchmann, who slipped from fourth to 15th place on the second Pyrenees stage after working hard as Hindley failed to defend the yellow jersey. But that earned him extra praise from team boss Ralph Denk: “It was strong of him to serve the team. We’re glad to have him in our ranks.”
Breakaway caught five kilometers from the finish
This time the sprinter teams had the work to do, with the two French breakaways Nans Peters and Pierre Latour five kilometers from the finish line. In Bordeaux, which hosted the Tour for the 81st time, the sprint royal took place almost traditionally.
The detour to Bordeaux was also accompanied by some security concerns in the tour entourage, after all it was the first guest appearance in a French metropolis this year. Riots had also broken out in Bordeaux in the past few days after the death of a 17-year-old by a police bullet during a traffic check in Nanterre.
On Saturday, the hour of the escape could come on the eighth stage over 200.7 kilometers from Libourne to Limoges. Perhaps Augsburg’s Georg Zimmermann will be able to catch a good group. Otherwise, another sprint decision is to be expected. Two climbs in the fourth category and up to five percent incline in the last 700 meters make the stage final difficult.
