Phil Bauhaus lost his bearings furioso in the heated finale, instead Jasper Philipsen finally became the king of the sprinters at the 110th Tour de France with his triple. The man from Belgium celebrated his third victory of the year on Friday 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. Surrounded by autograph hunters, he rolled down the magnificent boulevard to the team bus with his head bowed, while the new king of the sprinters celebrated his triple party a few meters away. “It’s a little frustrating. The guys did an incredible job, I left at just the right moment. But I had a problem with the circuit. The finish line was only 30 meters away. I had to sit down for a moment and then get out of the saddle again. But we will keep trying,” Cavendish quarreled.
The stage seemed set for the royal sprint in Bordeaux, where he had already triumphed in 2010. After 169.9 kilometers, Cavendish sprinted almost inexorably towards victory before Philipsen rushed past just a few meters from the finish line. “We can’t be proud enough of how we did it as a team. We try everything we can. Already three wins. If anyone had told me that a week ago, I would have said they were 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.
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 is 25 seconds ahead of his big opponent Tadej Pogacar, who, however, caused more excitement with his victory on Thursday 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 manager Ralph Denk: “It was strong of him to put himself at the service of the team. We are glad to have him in our ranks.”
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.
1. Jasper Philipsen (Belgium) – Alpecin-Deceuninck 3:46:28 hrs; 2. Mark Cavendish (Great Britain) – Astana Qazaqstan Team 0 sec; 3. Biniam Girmay Hailu (Eritrea) – Intermarché-Circus-Wanty; 4. Luca Mozzato (Italy) – Team Arkea-Samsic; 5. Dylan Groenewegen (Netherlands) – Team Jayco AlUla; 6. Jordi Meeus (Belgium) – Bora-hansgrohe; 7. Phil Bauhaus (Bocholt) – Bahrain Victorious; 8. Bryan Coquard (France) – Cofidis; 9. Alexander Kristoff (Norway) – Uno-X Pro Cycling Team; 10. Mads Pedersen (Denmark) – Lidl Trek; … 29. Nils Politt (Huerth) – Bora-hansgrohe; 37. Emanuel Buchmann (Lochau/Austria) – Bora-hansgrohe; 69. Nikias Arndt (Cologne) – Bahrain Victorious; 88. John Degenkolb (Oberursel) – Team DSM – Firmenich; 115. Simon Geschke (Freiburg im Breisgau) – Cofidis 2:03 min.; 137. Georg Zimmermann (Neusäß) – Intermarché-Circus-Wanty 2:32.
1. Jonas Vingegaard Rasmussen (Denmark) – Jumbo-Visma 29:57:12; 2. Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia) – UAE Team Emirates 25s; 3. Jai Hindley (Australia) – Bora-hansgrohe 1:34 mins; 4. Simon Yates (Great Britain) – Team Jayco AlUla 3:14; 5. Carlos Rodriguez Cano (Spain) – Ineos Grenadiers 3:30; 6. Adam Yates (Great Britain) – UAE Team Emirates 3:40; 7. David Gaudu (France) – Groupama-FDJ 4:03; 8. Romain Bardet (France) – Team DSM – Firmenich 4:43; 9. Thomas Pidcock (Great Britain) – Ineos Grenadiers; 10. Sepp Kuss (USA) – Jumbo-Visma 5:28; … 15. Emanuel Buchmann (Lochau/Austria) – Bora-hansgrohe 6:32; 73. Georg Zimmermann (Neusäß) – Intermarché-Circus-Wanty 56:58; 76. Simon Geschke (Freiburg im Breisgau) – Cofidis 58:45; 107. Nils Politt (Hürth) – Bora-hansgrohe 1:18:23 hours; 111. Nikias Arndt (Cologne) – Bahrain Victorious 1:20:20; 156. John Degenkolb (Oberursel) – Team DSM – Firmenich 1:36:57; 167. Phil Bauhaus (Bocholt) – Bahrain Victorious 1:45:05.
