Philipsen finally scores Tour sprint victory on stage 17
He's now just seven points behind Mads Pedersen in green jersey points competition.
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“This victory cost me a few years of my life.”
“This was proper shit day. Super disappointed.”
Those two quotes, one from Jasper Philipsen and the other from Mads Pedersen, sum up what has become a war of wills, intermediate sprints and team strategy.
The battle for the coveted Green Jersey is a drag-out, knock-down fight between Philipsen (Alpecin Premier Tech) and Pedersen (Lidl-Trek).
Today on stage 17 from Chambery to Voiron, Pedersen went on the attack once again to bank as many intermediate sprint points as possible. He’s got the jersey but Philipsen has finally recovered from the crushing heat and is rapidly picking up speed.
Pedersen took out the intermediate sprint from the lead breakaway of six riders including Jasper Stuyven (Soudal Quickstep) and Ben Healy (EF Education EasyPost).
That 25 points in his Green savings account, Pedersen then failed to convince the other riders to stay ahead of the big chase group behind led by Philipsen’s squad. The gap remained at one minute but once inside ten kilomters it was 30 seconds and falling fast.
They were chasing down Pedersen and Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek) who was further up the road and trying to detail everyone’s plans. They’d nail back Pedersen but Stuyven pushed on, holding an 18 second gap with 5k to go.
Another kilometer and Stuyven was cooked, setting up the sprint throw-down between the faster man, Philipsen, and the more tenacious man Pedersen.
With a perfectly executed lead-out, Mathieu Van der Poel made sure nobody got close to Philipsen. Stage 13 winner Mauro Schmid (Jayco Alula) and Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM) took second and third.
As for the hard-working Mads Pedersen, he could only manage 7th, which adds to his total but it’s not the hefty 50 points the winner scores.
Philipsen collapsed on the pavement in exhaustion and happiness. Finally, he had his victory; finally, he was off the Tour de France roller coaster of frustration and disappointment.
“I was like an angry bird at the table,” said Philipsen. “The team had to deal with it. This one is for them and keeping on believing.”
The points competition is now agonizingly close: 452 points for Mads, 445 for Pedersen. It’s a knife fight in France.
Tomorrow, the race heads back to the mountains but there are intermediate sprints to contest and then the final sprint stage in Paris where Pedersen might have the edge.
Like last year, the cobbled climb of the Côte de la Butte Montmartre will be an extra challenge for pure sprinters like Philipsen. But who knows the final outcome?
“The fight is going all the way to Paris,” said Pedersen. By then both riders may be saying “This victory cost me a few years of my life.”