Three wins out of three sprints for Jasper Philipsen in the Tour de France

The first week is not over and Jasper Philipsen can already be considered the king of the sprinters of this Tour de France 2023 after scoring with insulting ease his third stage victory in this edition. Mark Cavendish is once again just one step away from his 35th victory.

Stage 7 of the Tour de France 2023, the calm after the storm

After the intense days we have experienced in the Pyrenees, the peloton took an active rest day with two days left, both tough, until the official rest day. We can't reproach the attitude of the peloton given the level of spectacle they have offered us these days, however, we could wish for a little more combativeness on the part of the more modest teams.

4 riders were placed in the initial cut of the day, formed almost unintentionally, by Nelson Oliveira, Jonas Abrahamsen of Uno-X, Mathieu Burgaudeau and Simon Guglielmi of Arkéa-Samsic. However, one by one, after a few kilometers in the lead, they decided to fade and stop until they were caught by the group, leaving only Guglielmi in the lead with a lot of kilometers ahead that would lead him from Mon de Marsan to Bordeaux.

A completely flat route, only interrupted by a 4th category hill in the final section, where the peloton was dedicated to rest, taking for granted a massive finish for the sprinters.

However, with 79 km to go Pierre Latour and Nans Peters decided to change the script, seeking to take advantage of the strong favorable wind that helped the riders in the final stretch. They quickly chased down Guglielmi, who eventually gave way on the ramps of the climb. Having jumped so late, they had good strength, so they maintained a hard battle with the peloton until just under 5 kilometers to the finish, when they were caught.

The sprint was rather messy even though Alpecin-Deceuninck started in the lead with three men in the last kilometer. However, Mathieu van der Poel was left too early to face the air and had to take his time before making a launch as he has done in recent days. A less violent approach than that of the last two mass finishes that Mark Cavendish took advantage of to try to anticipate the launch of the finish.

For a moment it seemed that he managed to surprise but a very attentive Jasper Philipsen saw the move and found the gap to stick to his wheel. Girmay also saw it, although behind the British rider's wheel there was only room for one rider and in the dispute for that position he was closed on the side of the fences. Despite Cavendish's great start, Jasper Philipsen was able to get out of his slipstream and come back with tremendous ease, leaving Mark Cavendish again at the gates of achieving the desired record of victories. Completing the podium of the stage was Girmay, who is slowly beginning to look like the rider who amazed us last year.

Stage 7 Classification

1. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 03h46’28’’
2. Mark Cavendish (Astana) +00’’
3. Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) +00’’
4. Luca Mozzato (Arkéa-Samsic) +00’’
5. Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-AlUla) +00’’
6. Jordi Meeus (Bora-Hansgrohe) +00’’
7. Phil Bauhaaus (Bahrain-Victorious) +00’’
8. Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) +00’’
9. Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X) +00’’
10. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) +00’’

Overall Classification

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) 29h57’12’’
2. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) +25’’
3. Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) +01’34’’
4. Simon Yates (Jayco AlUla) +03’14’’
5. Carlos Rodríguez (INEOS Grenadiers) +03’30’’
6. Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) +03’40’’
7. David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) +04’03’’
8. Romain Bardet (Team DSM) +04’43’’
9. Thomas Pidcock (INEOS Grenadiers) +04’43’’
10. Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) +05’28’’