Finished “Jasper the disaster”, now call him “Jasper the master”. Belgian rider Jasper Philipsen won the sixth stage of his career on the Tour de France, Wednesday in Moulins, the prefecture of Allier. And the fourth, out of five sprint finishes, on this 2023 edition, enough to establish yourself a little more as the master of the discipline on this big loop.
Unlike his previous victories in Bayonne, Nogaro and Bordeaux, Jasper Philipsen this time triumphed alone. Mathieu Van der Poel, his pilot fish since the start of the Tour, was left behind in the last kilometers, because of a “cold”, according to the rider from Alpecin-Fenix.
“I can also win without Mathieu Van der Poel”
One more pride for the green jersey. “Yes I can also win without Mathieu Van der Poel. Obviously it’s harder when he’s not there, but I have to take the right wheel alone. I was able to take that of Groenewegen, it was he who launched, it was perfect, ”he rejoiced on arrival.
Philipsen had already sent a first message during the intermediate sprint, when he overtook Frenchman Bryan Coquard on the line to score 13 small points more, when he did not necessarily need to force to consolidate his green jersey. The teams of sprinters then did their job to never leave more than 2 minutes to the three riders in the lead, before taking over Daniel Oss, voted the most combative of the day 10 km from the finish. To the point of annoying his breakaway friend, the Frenchman Matys Louvel, at the finish:
The teams of sprinters who leave us only 2′ when we are only three, it kills the race a bit. There are four teams that ride while it’s been 4 sprints that they have been twisted by the same rider, it’s their problem but it’s not very motivating. »
Because indeed Jasper Philipsen has once again “twisted” the competition, to secure 50 additional points for the jersey towards and take a 145-point lead over Bryan Coquard. That’s the equivalent of three sprint victories, just imagine!
“If I won today, then why not”
How far away is this 4th stage of the Tour de France 2022 when the Belgian celebrated his sprint victory, forgetting that Wout Van Aert had already crossed the line for several seconds. To the point of being nicknamed “Jasper the Disaster”. At the end of this 11th stage of this edition of the Tour, he finally accepted his new nickname of “Jasper the Master”: “This morning, I asked you if I could call you “Jasper the Master”, but you didn’t had not answered. Can you answer now? asked a journalist. To which the new sprint master replied: “I said that if I won today, then why not! “.
At only 25 years old and for his third Tour, Jasper Philipsen equals Mark Cavendish, the only active rider to have won four victories in the same edition. But his two victories last year, and his grip on the sprint this year could make him want to go a little more to tickle the unfortunate British, victim of a retirement for his last big loop, last Saturday. To the point of seeking his record of 34 victories in a Tour de France? It’s premature, of course, but the six victories in the same edition, the best performance of the Briton in 2009, seem largely in his strings.