BELGIAN JASPER Philipsen sprinted to his fourth stage win on this year’s Tour de France with a powerful last burst on stage 11 from Clermont-Ferrand to Moulins.
The Alpecin sprinter edged Dutch rider Dylan Groenewegen to the line on Wednesday with Phil Bauhaus in third. There was no change in the overall standings between race favourites Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar.
Philipsen has dominated the bunch sprints on the 2023 Tour although two of his three previous triumphs were garnered with some wobbly manoeuvres that had to be validated by the race commissaire.
In the final sprint during his first win at Bayonne he appeared to swerve in front of Wout Van Aert.
He then won out after a series of falls at the Nogaro motorbike circuit.
On the banks of the Garonne at Bordeaux for his third stage win he also appeared to cut off the path for Biniam Girmay, who waved his arms in anger before Philipsen was again cleared.
“It looks like there might be three more stages that are possible to win,” said Philipsen.
“It’s been an incredible Tour so far.
“I think I’ve made a good gap in the standings and that gives me a bit of comfort going into the Alps.”
“I’m super proud, I’m also really happy with my shape,” he added.
Philipsen leads the sprint points race by 145 points, with Frenchman Bryan Coquard second on 178.
Race leader Vingegaard and second-placed Pogacar remain separated by just 17 seconds, with Australian rider Jai Hindley in third at 2min 40sec.
Pogacar clawed back a few seconds for a second time on stage nine after the Dane dropped his rival to gain 53 seconds on him in Laruns on stage five.
Stage 11 left the industrial city of Clermont-Ferrand, where the tyre company Michelin has its base, and headed north-east to Moulins as the action closes in on the Alps.
It was a largely flat stage raced under overcast skies with the temperatures down considerably from Tuesday’s testing 38C peak.
Neilson Powless of Education First took the polka dot climbing jersey after stage one and has stubbornly clung on to it.
The American team also lost their leader on stage one when Richard Carapaz fell, so the jersey has been a fun form of consolation, albeit likely a temporary diversion.
The American rider should hold on Thursday for the hilly run through the Beaujolais region before three straight mountain stages round out the week.
