And four! Untouchable in the sprint, Jasper Philipsen won his fourth victory in the Tour de France on Wednesday at Moulins to take an almost definitive option on the green jersey if he reaches Paris.
This time, the new sprint emperor did not even need his luxury pilot fish Mathieu van der Poel, sick and left behind in the final, to raise his arms at Moulins on storm-soaked roads.
Stalled in the wake of Dutchman Dylan Groenewegen, a competitor, the Belgian settled the massive sprint with a huge margin over the rest of the pack after a day for once peaceful for the favorites.
“Yes, I can also win without Mathieu. He makes things easier for me. There I had to find the right wheel. I took Groenewegen’s, he was the one who started the sprint, it was perfect, ”reacted the 26-year-old Belgian.
Step by step, from Bayonne to Moulins via Nogaro and Bordeaux, Philipsen erases his nickname of “Jasper Disaster” from the shelves to join the line of the greatest sprinters in the recent history of the Tour, the Mark Cavendish, Alessandro Petacchi, Marcel Kittel and André Greipel.
“It really is a dream Tour for me. Everything works like clockwork,” observes the rider from Alpecin who, after also winning the intermediate sprint, takes to the top of the points classification for the green jersey.
Grand Slam in sight?
“He’s the fastest man in the world,” concludes his manager Christoph Roodhooft. He did everything like a big guy today. This second week of the Tour has already been successful for us too. »
Behind, the competition cashes. Fabio Jakobsen who announced himself as his main rival? Far behind, still bruised by his fall in Nogaro. Wout Van Aert, the cycling superstar? Still empty-handed despite all his efforts. Bryan Coquard? Deserving but subscribed to places of honor (still 4e Wednesday).
“Jasper is just super fast, and also very cool. It handles bumps well. He is the sprinter who survives the best in the mountains, an advantage for him”, underlines his teammate Jonas Rickaert.
What to consider the Grand Slam, while there are still perhaps three opportunities for the sprinters at the end of next week? And join or even overtake the great Mark Cavendish, winner of six stages in 2009?
“Jasper is climbing well, but there is still a lot of mountain. Let’s go to Paris already, ”temporizes Ramon Sinkeldam, another lieutenant of the Belgian thoroughbred.
In fact, serious things resume on Thursday with a leapfrog stage in the Beaujolais vineyards before Friday’s ascent of the Grand Colombier.
Above all, the Alps are already at the foot of the door, for an orgy of passes from Saturday.
“Keep it under the pedal”
One can easily understand in these circumstances that the peloton chose, before the inevitable final fury, to take it easy on Wednesday.
The sight of a deer snorting close to the road, in the yellow fields of the Allier, sent a very slight shiver through the peloton. The possibility of an edge in a windy finish raised some eyebrows.
For the rest, it was a languorous procession through the Allier, chasing after the breakaway of the day (Amador, Louvel and Oss) to arrive under a downpour — almost a blessing after the furnace of the day before — at Mills.
“It was a bit stressful all the same, but my team has done a very good job,” said yellow jersey Jonas Vingegaard.
Actor of a completely crazy stage the day before towards Issoire, the Dane thinks that there will be “no crazy attack” Thursday, because everyone will want to “keep some under the pedal for this weekend in the Alps . Especially Saturday and Sunday, which are really very tough stages”.
In the meantime, Jasper continues his reign.