Jasper Philipsen secures 4th sprint win at Tour de France; Vingegaard keeps yellow jersey

MOULINS, France — Jasper Philipsen is in a class of his own when it comes to sprinting at the Tour de France. He is so strong that even when the teammate in charge of setting him up is not there, he still wins in the end.

The Belgian sprinter posted his fourth stage win at this year’s Tour de France on Wednesday, taking his career tally to six.

“It’s been an incredible Tour so far,” Philipsen said after outclassing the field. “I can’t realize how good it is all going, so I’m super proud and really happy with my shape. And also, to get through the final without problems is also a big challenge, and we managed to do it four times, so I’m super happy.”

There were no major changes in the general classification: Jonas Vingegaard kept his 17-second lead over two-time champion Tadej Pogacar. Jai Hindley remained in third place, 2 minutes, 40 seconds off the pace.

Philipsen, who rides for Alpecin–Deceuninck, had been perfectly guided by his leadout man Mathieu van der Poel in his three previous stage wins. Left on his own this time, he perfectly timed his move and once again proved strongest in the frenetic last kilometer of the 180-kilometer (112 miles) Stage 11 from Clermont-Ferrand to Moulins in central France.

Philipsen has lost just one of the five mass sprints that took place at this year’s Tour when Mad Pedersen won Stage 8.

With van der Poel not taking part in Wednesday’s sprint, Philipsen navigated his way through traffic at an average speed of 65.6 kmh (40.8 mph) in the last kilometer to join Mark Cavendish as the only active rider with at least four stage wins in a single Tour edition. Cavendish crashed out of the race last week.

“I can also win without (van der Poel), but of course, he makes it more easy,” Philipsen said.

After Alexander Kristoff launched the sprint, Dylan Groenewegen countered with Philipsen on his wheel. The Belgian’s power was too much to handle for Groenewegen, who had to be content with a runner-up finish. Phil Bauhaus completed the stage podium.

“I had to find my wheel a little bit, and it’s also finding the space, and it’s hectic and dangerous for crashing, but I’m happy I could find a good wheel — Groenewegen — in the end, he opened up early, and I could go over,” Philipsen summed up.

Following a day of furious racing in hot weather that took a toll on the peloton, Andrey Amador moved to the front immediately after the start of the stage but quickly noticed there were not a lot of riders interested in jumping into a break.

Amador for a while rode only a few meters ahead of the bunch before Matis Louvel and Daniel Oss joined his effort as they broke away without facing resistance from the peloton.

With only three riders in the lead group, the breakaway was doomed to failure and the sprinters’ team did not react, well aware that they would catch the trio further down the road. The main bunch was happy to sit back for a while, riding at an easy pace on long stretches of flat roads bordered by sunflowers and fields.

But amid crosswinds that made the teams of contenders nervous about possible splits, the chase started quite early, with the three-man lead dropping to just 30 seconds with some 75 kilometers left.

Louvel was the first to sit up, before Amador gave up too. Oss kept fighting alone at the front a bit longer and managed to regain some time.

A heavy downpour with 30 kilometers left didn’t slow the peloton, which swallowed up Amador some 14 kilometers from the finish.

Thursday’s 169-kilometer (105 miles) Stage 12 from Roanne to Belleville-en-Beaujolais will take riders on a hilly route that could favor a breakaway. The battle for the yellow jersey is expected to resume on Friday with the ascent of the Grand Colombier, a mammoth climb concluding the stage.