tour reporter
Jasper Philipsen wins the first sprint of this year’s Tour de France in Bayonne. But he has to wait a long time before the jury declares him the winner. The routing is under criticism.
Twenty minutes is a long time to sort out the emotions. Jasper Philipsen had clenched his fist, let out a whoop and let himself be surrounded by photographers and TV cameras. But he wasn’t allowed to feel like a winner at first.
Philipsen had to wait for the result of stage 3 to Bayonne to be officially confirmed on the road. The jury examined the Belgian’s sprint for any deviations from the ideal line. Had he blocked his compatriot Wout van Aert, who therefore only crossed the finish line in fifth place?
Criticism of the home straight
After 20 minutes on the screen, the commissaires then decided: everything is clean, the result stands. And the winner of the first mass sprint was, not surprisingly, also of the opinion that his sprint deserved no criticism. “In the Tour de France there are no gifts, for nobody”explained Philipsen. “It was a difficult final with a slight S-curve and I just tried to take the shortest route to the finish.”
And so you were in the middle of a discussion about the route of this first sprint finish. Two kilometers before the finish, the organizers installed a hairpin bend, and then the last 300 meters ran with a slight left turn and a hint of a right bend.
“Hard to say if Jasper’s sprint was fair”, said van Aert. He tried to pass to the right, but then first touched Philipsen and then the spectators at the barrier. “As a result, I wasn’t able to complete my sprint in the last 50 meters.” With the Jumbo-Visma team, they pointed out that the last 200 meters in a sprint final had to be straight according to UCI regulations. “That was not the case”said the sports director of the team, Arthur Van Dongen.
more confident first tour sprint of Bauhaus
European Champion Fabio Jakobsen, who finished fourth in the sprint, did not agree with the route. “It was right, left, right, left and then left and then right over the last 500 meters. It can’t be that difficult to find a straight road in France.”complained the Dutchman, whose frustration also stemmed from the fact that his sprint train got lost in the last kilometer. “We can do better”said Jacobsen.
One would also like to know what Phil Bauhaus thought about all this, who would have been the winner of the Bayonne stage if Philipsen’s sprint had not been judged correct by the jury. But the Bahrain-Victorious team is currently not giving any interviews to ARD because of reporting last weekend.
But it can also be said that Bauhaus – despite all the hustle and bustle – kept his nerve in his first sprint at the Tour de France and sprinted with impressive self-confidence. A sign that he can definitely achieve the desired stage victory.
Philipsen now favorite for the sprints
He and all the other sprinters will have the next opportunity on Tuesday (July 4th, 2023) on the fourth stage from Dax to Nogaro. The section ends there on the Paul Armagnac racetrack. On the last three kilometers there are many curves again, but the last 800 meters are dead straight.
Philipsen is now the favourite: he was the fastest in the stage win in Bayonne, the pressure is off now and his sprint train with the fast preparers Jonas Rickaert and Mathieu van der Poel is a bank. “If Mathieu has space, then he definitely has the speed”Philipsen said. “No other sprint train can get past that.”