Tour of France | “Total Domination” by Jasper Philipsen

The directors ofIn the heart of the pelotonNetflix’s documentary series on the Tour de France, upped the ante a little by presenting Jasper Philipsen as a “disaster” on two wheels.

It is the 25-year-old Belgian sprinter who identifies himself in this way in the sixth episode, but the “nickname” seems to have been put in his mouth by the interviewer, who we do not hear intervene.

Philipsen was reacting then at the end of the fourth stage of the 2022 Tour de France, where he hastily celebrates what he believes to be his first victory in Calais. But the unfortunate did not see his compatriot Wout van Aert (Jumbo) arrive ten seconds before him.

An embarrassing moment that did not make the runner a celery foot. Let’s put that down to a forced dramatization.

“Jasper Disaster” got rid of this unfair epithet by winning the platoon sprint of the 15^e stage in Carcassonne, where he had the upper hand over van Aert thanks to an unstoppable bicycle throw.

After four second and four third places, this first victory in the Tour brought him to tears. He had doubled the bet with a prestigious success at the last stage on the Champs-Élysées.

Even without the help of his usual pilot fish*, Mathieu van der Poel, sick, Philipsen continued on this momentum by crushing his opponents in the 11^e stage, Wednesday, in Moulins.

The representative of Alpecin-Deceuninck clinched his fourth victory in five bunch sprints since the big start in Bilbao. The other time, he finished second behind ex-world champion Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek).

The official interviewer asked him if he ” [réalisait qu’il entrait] slowly in the history of the Tour de France”.

“What story are you talking about? replied Philipsen, intrigued.

If the eight successes of Eddy Merckx (1970 and 1974), Freddy Maertens (1976) and Charles Pélissier (1930) seem untouchable, he could reach the six stages and join a multitude of riders in third place, including Mark Cavendish, who raised his arms six times in 2009.

Guillaume Boivin does not see who will come to worry him. “It’s total domination,” agreed the rider from Israel-Premier Tech in the middle of a massage session, three hours after the end of the stage.

“We already saw it last year. This year, even his whole season is exceptional. »

Second in Paris-Roubaix, behind his teammate van der Poel, Philipsen won two stages at Tirreno-Adriatico, won the classic Bruges-De Panne, Grand Prix de l’Escaut and Bruges before putting the wheels on his third Tour.

“In addition to his burst of speed, he has an excellent team and he goes over the mountain really easily compared to the other sprinters,” said Boivin. So I have the impression that his dominance is not likely to change by the end of the Tour. If there is one thing, maybe it will be even bigger! »

After having spent a “dirty day” the day before the day after the rest, Boivin experienced “completely the opposite” on Wednesday, where he showed up at the head of the peloton 6 km and 3 km from the line. The ambition was to place teammate Corbin Strong in a favorable spot before two critical roundabouts.

“The other days, we were a little too behind. We decided to try something different to pass these roundabouts which sometimes stretch the peloton quite a bit.

“When I left him, between the 3^e and the 2^e km, Corbin was still really good, maybe 10^e or 12^e. But when I resumed, I saw that it slowed down a lot afterwards. The peloton came together like a ball and lost positions, I think. »

At the time of starting, Strong had to bypass Luka Mezgeg (Jayco AlUla), the pitcher of Dylan Groenewegen, unfortunate second. Ninth Friday in Limoges, the 23-year-old New Zealander had to settle for 14^e level at Moulins.

For the 12^e stage, 169 km uneven between Roanne and Belleville-en-Beaujolais this Thursday, Boivin hopes to help a climber to participate in the breakaway, or even to integrate it himself, as he did on Sunday during the victory of his teammate Michael Woods at the top of the Puy de Dôme.