Belgian Jasper Philipsen claimed his second Tour de France victory of the year by taking 13th placee sprint stage on Friday in Pau on the eve of a weekend in the Pyrenees.
Slovenian Tadej Pogacar retains the yellow jersey with a 1:06 lead over Belgian Remco Evenepoel and 1:14 over Dane Jonas Vingegaard.
The fourth favourite, Primoz Roglic, did not start on Friday morning in Agen after his heavy fall the day before.
Pogacar lost a valuable teammate in the mountains, the Spaniard Juan Ayuso, bib number 13, who abandoned the road race after falling ill on Thursday.
Philipsen won ahead of the Belgian Wout Van Aert, once again second, and the German Pascal Ackermann in a final again marked by a violent fall.
It was Maxime Van Gils who, in trying to catch up with his leader Arnaud De Lie, collided head-on with Amaury Capiot, Arnaud Démare’s pilot fish in the last kilometre.
The crash, which took out several riders, caused a split. Pogacar found himself in a first group unlike several other leaders, but everyone was reclassified at the same time under the three-kilometre rule.
“The feeling was good, better than the first weeks of the Tour. I had a lot of bad luck at the start, and I’m happy that it’s turning around,” Philipsen said after claiming his eighth Tour victory.
The day was fast and very lively with a breakaway of around twenty riders, including world champion Mathieu van der Poel, but it was quickly condemned because of the presence of Adam Yates, Pogacar’s main lieutenant.
Four riders – Michal Kwiatkowski, Romain Grégoire, Julien Bernard and Magnus Cort – escaped but were also caught by the peloton fifty kilometres from the finish.
The peloton was then split into several sections. Sprinters like Mark Cavendish and Dylan Groenewegen got caught out and failed to join the fight for victory.
On Saturday, the peloton will head towards the Pyrenees for the first summit finish at Pla d’Adet, including the ascent of the Tourmalet along the way.