Jasper Philipsen confirmed his new status as king of the sprint this Friday by tripling the bet in the Tour de France with a new demonstration in Bordeaux. But for the manager of Intermarché-Wanty training, the Belgian should have been sanctioned.
Is the new sprint king too dangerous? With a new show of force in Bordeaux, Jasper Philipsen won his third victory on Friday in the Tour de France 2023 in just seven stages since leaving the Basque Country. Along the banks of the Garonne, the 25-year-old Belgian deprived Mark Cavendish (Astana) of great happiness for his last Tour. The podium of the day is completed by Biniam Girmay, who was forced to stop his effort approaching the line in the face of a controversial maneuver by the winner. “A great podium for Bini even if we could legitimately hope for better if Philipsen stays in his trajectory,” lamented Girmay’s teammate Lilian Calmejane on Twitter. Jean-François Bourlart, manager of the Eritrean rider at Intermarché-Wanty, goes further and howls with scandal at the attitude of the green jersey.
“He wins three times and on the three times there are three faults. There is one from Mathieu Van der Poel who was penalized a few days ago. Today, Biniam is again put in the barriers, at 20 centimeters from the barrier, he has to brake and almost stop. What I blame the UCI for is that we will still have to wait for a guy to fly over the barriers and risk his life to sanction a runner. This is not normal!”, he denounced at the finish, while his claim and that of Astana to downgrade Philipsen were rejected by the race marshals. Three days ago, in Nogaro, the latter had sanctioned Van der Poel, luxury pilot fish of the sprinter from Alpecin-Deceuninck on this Grande Boucle. For having put “the other riders in danger” with an elbow on Girmay, the Dutchman had been downgraded to last place in the leading group. He had also suffered a withdrawal of thirteen points in the classification of the green jersey and a fine of 500 Swiss francs (513 euros). This time, no reprimand.
Three sprints, three controversies
“There have to be 50 guys on the ground for us to be punished, protested Jean-François Bourlart. Everyone sees him, he is in the middle of the road and goes 100m to the right to go into the barrier If that is not punishable… The marshals say there is no fault. I don’t think the finish was that dangerous. There was no other dangerous movement. But a runner who leaves his five-meter line in the last 200 meters must be sanctioned. Biniam had to brake. He went from 70 to 40 km/h. We need guys on the ground for us to sanction. Look the three sprints…” Before Bordeaux and Nogaro, there was Bayonne on the third day. Philipsen had to wait a few minutes to savor his victory, the time for the race marshals to watch the images to check if he had not deviated from his route when he slightly packed his compatriot Wout Van Aert.
“I knew that the right side was the most direct, Philipsen justified himself. When you are in the lead, you try to take the shortest path. If the finish line had been straight, there would be no no discussion.” And Van Aert had not sought to argue: “I was well placed behind Jasper, I wanted to pass him on the right side, where I had started my sprint and at one point we collided a little and I I also hit a spectator on the other side. So I lost my momentum and had to cut my sprint fifty yards from the line. Was that a legal move by Philipsen? It’s hard to say and I also think that it is not for me to judge.” Fabio Jakobsen, one of his main competitors, had described his behavior as “dangerous and stupid”
Kindly mocked in the Netflix series on the Great Loop for his clumsiness and difficulties, Philipsen is in the process of acquiring a new status on this Tour. A new reputation. Having become the third rider to win the first three massive sprints of the Tour, after Marcel Kittel and Cavendish, he is no longer “The Disaster” but “The Master” as he has called himself. A four in a row is not impossible, even if the hilly finish of the stage scheduled for Saturday towards Limoges could be too tough for him. “The difference is enormous between the Jasper of today and the one who cried on the Champs-Elysées two years ago, he assumes. I gained experience, muscle too. I have long lacked patience. I wanted success to come quickly but I was not ready. Now yes.” The competition can confirm this.
Rodolphe Ryo with Arnaud Souque, in Bordeaux
