Belgian professional cyclist Jasper Philipsen has won the 16th stage of the Tour de France. The 26-year-old from the Alpecin-Deceuninck team won the mass sprint on Tuesday ahead of Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) from Bocholt. It was his third stage victory in this year’s Tour de France.
Pascal Ackermann (Israel-Premier Tech) was the second best German after 188.6 km from Gruissan to Nimes, coming in sixth. The German sprinters narrowly missed what was probably their last chance for a stage win.
Biniam Girmay from Eritrea (Intermarche-Wanty), wearer of the green jersey, crashed shortly before the finish and was unable to join the sprint for the stage victory.
“I’m happy, first place was out of the question, Philipsen was much stronger,” said Bauhaus (30) on “ARD”: “We waited, stayed in the slipstream. Because the wind was coming from the right, I was able to defend the rear wheel well, but second place was the maximum.”
As expected, there were no changes in the overall ranking. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) is still 3:09 minutes ahead of the Danish defending champion Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), with Remco Evenepoel (Belgium/Soudal Quick-Step) in third place, 5:19 minutes behind.
From Wednesday, the 111th Tour de France will enter its decisive phase. The 17th stage is the first of five difficult sections at the end of the tour. It runs over 177.8 km from Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux to Superdevoluy – there are three climbs to overcome in the final 40 kilometers.
Source: www.sport.de
