photo credits @ ASO
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) further stamped his authority on the Tour de France, after the Belgian rider won stage 11 in Moulins today, overpowering Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco AlUla) and Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X) to claim his fourth stage victory in this year’s French Grand Tour.
Philipsen found himself momentarily boxed in before grabbing Groenewegen’s wheel during the closing 150 meters, easily sailing past his Dutch rival to seize the day’s honors.
Meanwhile, Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) finished safely in the peloton to maintain his 17-second lead over Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) after a nervous, but uneventful day for the GC riders.
Race Highlights
It was a day of little drama, but for a hasty attack from Andrey Amador (EF Education-EasyPost), who hedged his bets with an early dig from the gun.
The French rider was later joined by Daniel Oss (TotalEnergies) and Matis Louvel (Arkea-Samsic), looking to defy the inevitable sprint finale in Moulins.
From there, the trio opened up a modest advantage of three minutes, with none of the day’s three 4-category climbs and looming rain proving sufficient to entice any counterattacks.
Louvel was the first to throw in the towel, followed by Amador, who gave Oss a fist-bump before dropping back to the peloton, leaving the Italian veteran to forge ahead alone with 50 kilometers remaining.
However, Oss was eventually reeled in during the final 15 kilometers, with Soudal-QuickStep and Lotto Dstny instigating the rampage into Moulins, albeit without their respective sprinters onboard.
Instead, it was the Jayco-AlUla team of Groenewegen that looked poised to end Philipsen’s reign. But, the Dutchman was launched by teammate Luka Mezgec too early, relegating him to another missed opportunity as Philipsen sped past him with only meters to spare.
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