Tour de France: Jasper Philipsen sprints to fourth stage victory of 2023 edition

Posted by Fernande Dalal on Sunday, August 18, 2024

There was little drama for most of Wednesday's 179.8km route, which started in Clermont-Ferrand, but it ended with a fiercely contested finish.

This time Philipsen did not have the help of his regular lead-out man, Alpecin-Deceuninck team-mate Mathieu van der Poel, but it made no difference to the outcome.

The 25-year-old followed Wout van Aert through a crowd of riders with 500m to go, then found Groenewegen's wheel before surging past him.

"I can also win without him [Van der Poel], but of course he makes it more easy," Philipsen added. "I had to find my wheel a little bit, and it is also about finding your space.

"It was hectic so it is dangerous for crashing but I was happy I could find a good wheel of Groenwegen in the end. He opened up early, and I could go over."

Defending champion Vingegaard retained his 17-second lead over two-time winner Tadej Pogacar.

Thursday's 12th stage takes the race 168.8km from Roanne to Belleville en Beaujolais, and features five categorised climbs.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7o67CZ5qopV%2BovbC%2B02iaspucnruoe5VvaHFoZ2x%2B