Things aren’t clicking for Jasper Philipsen at this Tour de France. The Alpecin-Premier Tech rider is a 10-time stage winner, a former green jersey wearer, but from two sprints this edition, he’s only managed to scrape a pair of fifth places.
The results have left him baffled, wondering why he’s not at his best. “We just have to look into it,” Philipsen said after stage seven in Bordeaux. “The only thing I can say is that I did everything I could, I rode as fast as possible, but it was not fast enough.”
Victory on Friday’s seventh stage went to Soudal Quick-Step’s Tim Merlier. To get back to his team bus post-race, Philipsen had to ride past Merlier’s, parked closer to the finish line on the bank of the Garonne river, where fans had begun to congregate to celebrate his win.
It’s a scene that Philipsen has grown used to around him at the Tour over the years. In each of his last four participations, he has won at least one stage. In 2023, he won four.
So what’s going wrong? Where’s the sprinter that, just three years ago, won on the same stretch of road outside Bordeaux’s Place de la Bourse?
“I don’t know,” Philipsen said. “It was a really good lead-out. Everybody did what they were capable of and it was a really amazing team effort, so I’m really happy with that. But of course, disappointed with my own legs, my own sprint. That was just not how it should be and how my legs should be.”
After stage five in Pau, won by Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM), Philipsen spoke of a similar lack of power. “I was quickly on the limit – not how I normally feel in a bunch sprint,” he had said.
But neither then, nor on Friday, was his tone downcast. If anything, he leant more towards optimism. “We just take it day by day,” he said. “Hopefully in the coming days it will come.”
Philipsen (left) launched his sprint first in Bordeaux, but was overpowered to the line.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
It bears reminding that the opening week of this year’s Tour has been more attritional than usual.
Philipsen won stage one’s bunch sprint in Lille last year, earning the race’s first yellow jersey, but this time round he had to wait until day five for his first shot at a flat finish. Already, he has faced an arduous team time trial, a hilltop finish, two mountain stages, and a near 40°C day.
Perhaps it’s the heat that has held back his punch? “The heat is there for everybody,” he said, quick avoid excuses. “It’s been really demanding for the body, the muscles are sore, but we try to tackle it as well as possible. So far, it’s going OK.”
Philipsen’s Alpecin-Premier Tech sports director, Christoph Roodhooft, also saw no clear reason for the missed sprint opportunities. “If we could explain it, it would not happen,” he said.
“The lead-out was all perfect [in Bordeaux], nothing to say about it. Jasper launched his sprint, and he could not take up the speed he usually has.
“We do not blame Jasper,” Roodhooft continued. “It’s just what it is. It’s sport and he’s human.”
Fortunately, Philipsen and his team will not have to wait long for their next sprint opportunity; Saturday’s eighth stage to Bergerac offers another flat finish, another chance to taste victory at the Tour.
It took him until stage 10 to win in 2024. He then went on to win twice more in that edition. Don’t write off Philipsen just yet.
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