Jasper Philipsen denied Mark Cavendish a record-breaking victory on the Tour de France to declare his third stage win on this yr’s race on Friday, taking his fifth bunch dash in succession since final yr.
After 170km from Mont de Marsan, Philipsen was the quickest once more within the closing dash, though Cavendish nearly caught the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider unexpectedly by launching his effort early, 250 metres from the road alongside the Garonne river.
The Briton, chasing a record-breaking thirty fifth Tour de France particular person win, was finally outpowered by Philipsen and had to accept what may stay essentially the most irritating runner-up spot in his profession.
Cavendish, again on the world’s biggest race after a one-year hiatus, shares the report of stage wins with Eddy Merckx, who took his 34 victories between 1969 and 1975.
“We can’t be proud enough of the team. Without them it would have been impossible to win a third stage already. I’m proud of them. We worked together and that led to success,” mentioned Philipsen, who as soon as once more benefited from Mathieu van der Poel’s excellent lead-out.
“I was always on a good wheel and never had to do a big effort before I had to produce my sprint. If you had told me a week ago, I would have told you that you’re crazy. We will just continue to add others.”
Defending champion Jonas Vingegaard retained the general chief’s yellow jersey, 25 seconds forward of Tadej Pogacar with Jai Hindley in third place, 1:34 off the tempo.
Saturday’s eighth stage is a 200.7-km hilly journey from Libourne to Limoges, which might favour Philipsen’s workforce mate Van der Poel, though the classics specialist has pledged allegiance to the most effective sprinter of the race this yr.
⏪A terrific end in Bordeaux that sees @JasperPhilipsen take his third win of the #TDF2023
⏪Une fin d’épreuve ultra-rapide à Bordeaux qui permet à @JasperPhilipsen de remporter sa 3e victoire sur le #TDF2023. pic.twitter.com/Hv0w7Lr3HX
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 7, 2023
