photo credits @ Le Tour
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) claimed his third stage victory in this year’s Tour de France today, after the Belgian rider won the sprint finale ahead of Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) and Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X Mobility in Nîmes, while Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) crashed during the final 2, reducing his lead in the green jersey category to just 32 points.
Meanwhile, there was no change in the general classification as Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) finished safely in the peloton, retaining his overall lead, 3:34 up on Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike).
Race Highlights
Stefan Kung (Groupama-FDJ) and Sandy Dujardin (TotalEnergies) were the first riders to animate today’s stage, but both sat up when they realized that there were no further volunteers to accompany them in the breakaway. From there, the peloton progressed at a moderate pace during the first hour, before the average speed significantly increased in the second hour of racing. Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) won the intermediate sprint in Matelettes, while Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) was second, followed by Girmay in fourth.
Gachignard goes solo
After the intermediate sprint Thomas Gachignard (TotalEnergies) went solo, later building a 2’20” advantage by the time he reached the top of the only categorized climb of the stage at Côte de Fambetou. The peloton did not look overly concerned about Gachignard’s breakaway efforts with Jayco-AlUla collaborating with Alpecin-Deceuninck at the front of the bunch to offset any potential threat from the relatively light crosswinds. With 25km to go, a peloton led by Groupama-FDJ calmly caught the solo attacker, who was named as the most combative rider of the stage for his efforts.
Another bunch sprint in Nimes
Nimes has hosted several bunch sprint finishes in the past and that was the case again as the peloton flew through the city streets towards the final straight. An unfortunate crash for Girmay at a roundabout inside the final 2km sadly denied him the chance of winning the sprint, which was won with aplomb by Philipsen ahead of Bauhaus and Kristoff.
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