Tour de France 2023 | Jasper Philipsen wins Stage 7 ahead of Mark Cavendish

Three out of three for Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck). Easy winner of the 7th stage in Bordeaux, the Belgian won his 3rd victory in as many massive sprints disputed on this 110th Tour de France. Mark Cavendish tried to surprise him by launching his effort from afar. But the green jersey, too strong, had no trouble coming back and then dropping the Briton in the last meters, still second this Friday ahead of Biniam Girmay. Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) retained the yellow jersey after a particularly quiet day.

The sprints follow each other and look alike on this Tour. As during his first two successes at Bayonne and Nogaro, Philipsen was first marvelously led by Mathieu van der Poel. The Alpecin-Deceuninck leader then showed patience by getting up a bit when the Dutch rocket ran out of fuel. There were almost 300 meters to go and it was a little too early to take things in hand.

Cavendish had time to believe it

This very short timeout opened a window for the underdogs, and Cavendish rushed into it with both feet forward. The Astana Qazaqstan sprinter played well by arriving full ball from behind. Everyone was fooled, except Philipsen, who showed his power to beat the former world champion in the last 50 meters.

It is nevertheless for Cavendish his best performance on the Tour since his last success in Carcassonne two years ago. But he was obviously aiming for nothing other than this 35th success which would have allowed him to overtake Eddy Merckx as the most successful rider on the roads of the Tour. The symbol would have been beautiful in Bordeaux, the capital of sprinters, where the race had not returned since 2010 and the success of … Cavendish. But he will have to wait a little longer, hoping next time that his legs will be just as good and that Philipsen will finally have some slack.

A two-step escape

The fighters knew they had almost no chance and therefore were not numerous to volunteer for a suicidal escape. A quartet is still out of the entrance. But Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X), Nelson Oliveira (Movistar) then Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies) in turn ended up getting up. Only Simon Guglielmi (Arkéa-Samsic) continued on his way. And the 26-year-old Savoyard, a neophyte on the Tour, was granted a maximum lead of 7’16”.

His solitary breakaway stretched for 93 kilometres. There were 74 terminals left when Nans Peters (AG2R Citroën) and Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) joined him, the Isérois and the Drômois having started after the intermediate sprint in Grignols. At three, the story was not quite the same. If Guglielmi let go in the only difficulty of the day, the Béguey coast (4th category), 39km from the goal, Peters and Latour resisted for a long time with a one-minute lead. But logic finally prevailed, Latour, the last survivor, having been eaten by the pack 3.6 km from the finish.

Rest day for the overall favorites