Philipsen breaks his Tour de France drought with stage 17 sprint win

Jasper Philipsen ended a frustrating stretch of near misses by winning the 17th stage of the Tour de France on Wednesday, taking a clear sprint victory after a demanding Alpine day from Chambery to Voiron. The Belgian rider finished several bike lengths ahead of Mauro Schmid and Olav Kooij in the reduced bunch sprint, with Alpecin-Premier Tech teammate Mathieu van der Poel providing a key lead-out. It was Philipsen’s 11th Tour stage win overall and his first at this year’s race. The result also extended an impressive run of consistency in the world’s biggest cycling event. Philipsen has now taken at least one stage in each of the last five editions of the Tour, a record that underlines his status as one of the peloton’s most reliable finishers when the road ends in a sprint. This year, though, the victories had been harder to come by. Philipsen had already finished in the top five on five occasions before Wednesday, and by his own description the wait had been wearing. In comments reported by Dawn Sport, he said the opening stage had felt “horrible” and admitted he had not found the level he expected early in the race, despite arriving in strong form. Wednesday’s stage offered a different outcome, with the race shaped by a hard day in the mountains before the final sprint played out. The reduced field gave fast finishers a chance, and Philipsen made it count when it mattered most. Van der Poel said the day had been difficult from start to finish but that Philipsen was able to stay well positioned and capitalize when the decisive move came together. The victory matters beyond one stage result. For Philipsen, it relieves some pressure after a Tour full of close calls and reminds rival sprint teams that he remains a major threat whenever the road flattens out. For Alpecin-Premier Tech, it adds another showcase result in a race where team coordination in the final kilometers often decides the outcome. What remains to be seen is how the closing stages will unfold, especially for the riders who have already taken stage wins and for those still chasing one last chance. But on Wednesday, Philipsen got the clean finish he had been hunting for, and he made it look emphatic.

Source: Dawn Sport - https://www.dawn.com/news/2017636/jasper-philipsen-ends-horrible-drought-with-tour-de-france-17th-stage-victory