tour reporter
Jasper Philipsen also wins the third sprint at the Tour de France. In Bordeaux, the racing jury dismissed an objection against Philipsen, although this time his sprint was at least marginal.
The technical zone at the finish of the Tour de France stages is a chaotic affair from the outside. Hundreds of kilometers of cable have been laid there, the broadcasting vans of the international TV stations are crowded together and somewhere in between there is a windowless white camper van with rainbow stripes on the side and the inscription UCI.
The video jury of the world cycling association meets there to punish any offenses within the field of riders – via video evidence. Especially during the sprint stages, the inspectors have to check all sorts of things on the screens inside the camper.
Girmay’s team appeals
Even after the 7th stage in Bordeaux they bent over the video images, let the mass sprint in Bordeaux run back and forth on the screen from different perspectives. The team Intermarché Circus Wanty had previously lodged an objection to the driving style of the day’s winner, Jasper Philipsen. According to the Belgian team, Philipsen left his line, crossed from left to right and thus hindered her sprinter Biniam Girmay.
The images of the sprint suggested it indeed: Philipsen started his sprint half-left down the stretch and then pulled right to jump at the rear wheel of Mark Cavendish, who already looked like he was on his way to a stage win. Girmay followed just a bike length behind. And it was precisely this gap that Philipsen was trying to fill. Girmay had to dodge and almost ended up in the gang in the process.
The rules of the UCI are clear
The rules of the UCI when it comes to sprints are very clear: “Riders are strictly prohibited from deviating from the track after they have started their sprint and endangering others in the process”it says under point 2.3.036 of the UCI regulations.
Philipsen’s sprint was at least borderline in this respect: he started his sprint in Bordeaux just as Cavendish passed and had a clear run to the finish line. So the Belgian actually had no reason to change lanes. Except to get in Cavendish’s slipstream again. Which he did, at Girmay’s expense.
But the jury did not want to see a foul in it. She did not provide a reason for this. “Probably there must first be a fall for the commissioners to decide differently”said the team leader of Girmay’s team, Jean Francois Bourlart. Alexander Vinokourov, who in his active career as a professional cyclist broke completely different rules when it came to doping, made a similar statement.
Cavendish very close to the record victory
Today Vinokourov heads the Astana team. And if Philipsen had been downgraded, the Kazakh could have celebrated. Because then his driver would be Mark Cavendish became a stage winner. The Brit was just sprinted over by Philipsen shortly before the finish line in Bordeaux and finished second. It would be Cavendish’s a total of 35 stage wins in the Tour de France, which would have made him the sole record stage winner.
“I’m disappointed”said Cavendish and did not mean the decision of the racing jury, but the fact that he had the longed-for record stage win in Bordeaux had come very close on the street. The Brit complained about problems with his gears, which constantly jumped from eleventh to twelfth gear.
Philipsen’s sprints under observation
The winner of the day, Philipsen, remained unimpressed by all of this. He had already given his winning press conference when the jury was still debating the appeal. However, he didn’t know anything about that at the time. And so he once again praised his sprint train and above all Mathieu van der Poel as a driver.
But Philipsen’s sprints are now under closer scrutiny on the tour. So far, none of his three victories have gone without discussions about whether everything was fair. It is therefore quite possible that the UCI video referees will also have to take a closer look in the technical zone of the 8th stage in Limoges on Saturday if there is another sprint there.