tour reporter
Jasper Philipsen also wins stage 4 of the Tour de France in Nogaro. The Belgian is the fastest sprinter in the field and benefits from Mathieu van der Poel’s preliminary work. The competitors are impressed and blame the duo.
The beaten and frustrated of the 4th stage of the Tour de France left the scene without saying a word or greeting. The Belgian Wout van Aert disappeared into his team bus at the Nogaro racetrack just as grumpily as the European champion Fabio Jakobsen from the Netherlands. Van Aert had only finished ninth this time, Jakobsen had fallen a kilometer and a half earlier.
Van der Poel works for Philipsen
Very different reasons for not saying anything. If van Aert and Jakobsen had spoken, they would have had to admit that Jasper Philipsen from Tem Alpecin-Deceuninck is currently the fastest man in the field after the first two sprint stages and two wins. But above all that he has the strongest starter in front of him – Mathieu van der Poel.
Van der Poel is one of the great stars of cycling. Cross world champion, winner of the great classics Milan-Sanremo, Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, Tour stage winner and yellow jersey wearer. He also has his own ambitions in the Tour, but in the sprints he puts himself at the service of Jasper Philipsen. “It’s a privilege to have him ahead of me in the sprint”explained Philipsen.
Delivered at the 150 meter mark
The duo also impresses the competition. “Mathieu is one of the best drivers in the world, not just the best starter, but the best ever”said Caleb Ewan, who sprinted to second place at Nogaro. “Of course they benefit from it.”
This time van der Poel had taken the lead with Philipsen on the rear wheel with around 350 meters to go and delivered his sprinter at the 150 meter mark. The Belgian only had to finish the preliminary work from there. “Honestly I didn’t have that much in my legs anymore so I was glad it was just a short sprint”Philipsen said.
Not everything went smoothly at Alpecin-Deceuninck in preparation for the sprint either. “We had to improvise a little”, said Philipsen, whose sprint train was just as confused in the final as the other teams. But he still managed to find the crucial rear wheel from Mathieu van der Poel.
Many curves in the final – three falls
After a long time spent at a leisurely pace, Philipsen himself as one “the most boring tour stages in a long time” designated, the finale on the Paul Armagnac race track turned out to be extremely hectic. The seven corners in the final 2000 meters resulted in three crashes involving several riders and renewed criticism of the route planners.
“It was extremely dangerous”criticized van der Poel. “It was even more dangerous than yesterday. If you build in so many curves on normal roads, there are comments, but on a racetrack that’s apparently okay.”
Punishment for van der Poel, accusation against Philipsen
Van der Poel himself had clashed in the chaotic finale with Biniam Girmay, the Intermarché-Circus-Wanty sprinter whom van der Poel pushed out of the way in his sprint preparation for Philipsen. The jury therefore later imposed a fine of 500 Swiss francs on van der Poel and relegated him from 16th to 22nd place, which also cost him 13 points in the green jersey classification.
After two stage victories, the jersey of the best sprinter now rests on Jasper Philipsen’s shoulders. But in Nogaro he was again accused of driving improperly. This time it was about the fall of Fabio Jakobsen, who pushed forward in a gap between Philipsen and a driver from the Israel-Premier Tech team and fell.
In this case, the prosecutor was Danny van Poppel from the German World Tour team Bora-hansgrohe. “Sometimes you see someone doing stupid things. And sometimes they do it on purpose”van Poppel told the Dutch TV channel NOS. “It’s the same with Jasper. He doesn’t know what he’s doing. I’m not saying he’s doing it on purpose, but that’s sprinting.”
Next sprint in Bordeaux
Philipsen denied the allegation. He just followed his team and noticed that Jakobsen was near him. “Of course I don’t want anyone to fall, but I think Fabio drove into a gap that was far too narrow.”said the stage winner.
The excited sprinters can now cool down a bit in the coming days. On Wednesday and Thursday it’s off to the Pyrenees, where the only goal for the fast cyclists is to finish the stage before the grace period expires. They are then back in their element on the seventh stage to Bordeaux, one of the most prestigious sprint finishes of the Tour de France. And it remains to be seen whether the competition will find an answer to Jasper Philipsen – and above all to Mathieu van der Poel.