It’s the Tour, there are no presents, says Jasper Philipsen after sprint victory
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Alpecin–Deceuninck's Jasper Philipsen celebrates winning stage three of the Tour de France on Monday.
PHOTO: REUTERS
BAYONNE – Belgian sprinter Jasper Philipsen outpaced and outmuscled the other fast men to take the high-speed bunch finish at the end of the third stage of the Tour de France on Monday.
The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider appeared to cut off a rival as he moved to his right in the finale, but the race commissioners approved the Belgian’s win, ahead of Phil Bauhaus and Caleb Ewan.
The first two days of the iconic race were in the Spanish Basque Country.
The 25-year-old, who won two stages in the previous edition of the race, said: “It was a bit of a doubt, but they made it really exciting in the end.
“It was tense, but it’s the Tour de France and there are no presents. We can be really happy with the team performance. It was a great lead-out with Jonas (Rickaert) and then Mathieu (van der Poel) did a fantastic job and I’m really happy to keep it to the finish line.
“I tried to take the shortest route to the finish and I’m really happy to be first over the line.”
Philipsen attracted ridicule at the Tour de France in 2022 for celebrating what he believed to be a stage win, when in fact Wout van Aert had already crossed the line on a solo escape.
A Netflix series about the 2022 Tour then nicknamed him “Jasper the Disaster”.
“It was a quiet stage, until the last 40 kilometres where it got dangerous,” said van der Poel, who has not shown great form in the first two stages.
“I think it was a perfect lead-out from the team and I had to bring him to the 300m line.”
English rider Adam Yates of the UAE Team retained the overall lead as all the chief contenders finished together after the 193.5km route from northern Spain to Bayonne.
Sunday’s star Victor Lafay, who remained fourth in the overall, retained the sprint points green jersey, while 2020 and 2021 champion Tadej Pogacar was in second place with the best young rider’s white tunic.
The reigning champion Jonas Vingegaard is sixth in the general classification.
Orange hats and green and red Basque flags were ever present on the early climbs as American rider Neilson Powless extended his lead in the mountain classification.
As the Tour caravan crossed the border, fans cheered breakaway rider Frenchman Laurent Pichon of Arkea-Samsic with every push of the pedals but he was caught 30km from home.
Tuesday’s Stage 4 is a largely flat 181.8km run from Dax to Nogaro, with a racing circuit finish line which should culminate in another mass sprint. AFP, REUTERS
