{"id":5161,"date":"2023-07-07T11:20:55","date_gmt":"2023-07-07T09:20:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/uk\/?p=5161"},"modified":"2023-07-14T11:22:57","modified_gmt":"2023-07-14T09:22:57","slug":"the-battle-for-the-skoda-green-jersey-philipsen-and-van-der-poel-seize-the-lead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/uk\/2023\/07\/07\/the-battle-for-the-skoda-green-jersey-philipsen-and-van-der-poel-seize-the-lead\/","title":{"rendered":"The Battle for the \u0160koda Green Jersey: Philipsen (and van der Poel) Seize the Lead"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just to be different, I\u2019ll open this blog about the race for the Tour de France \u0160koda Green Jersey with a video, courtesy of Eurosport<\/a> (the pertinent footage begins at 2 minutes). It shows Mathieu van der Poel leading out his Alpecin-Deceuninck teammate Jasper Philipsen on the stage 3 bunch sprint the first of the race.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Anyone dreaming of being a leadout man in the Tour de France when they grow up will get the equivalent of a college education in that skill from watching this clip. A leadout man must be smart, to understand the race situation and start the final run at just the right time, and of course they must be fast, fast enough to keep other leadout men and their sprinters behind them. Van der Poel ticks all these boxes and, to all his many other accomplishments in cycling, has now added the title of best leadout rider in the world. As Philipsen told Eurosport after stage 3, \u201cIt was a great leadout today. And I was able to keep it to the finish. No other leadout man can keep up with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pair repeated their two-man act in stage 4, but this time they had to find each other in the chaotic final 250m, with van der Poel slaloming past riders to take up his place at the head of the sprint and again lead his teammate to victory. Of course, Philipsen was delighted and again full of praise for his leadout man.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a privilege to have Mathieu as the last man,\u201d Philipsen said. \u201cI didn\u2019t know he still had this in the tank, but then he delivered me with 150m to go.\u201d Van der Poel was equally content: \u201cThe fact that Jasper wins makes it twice as beautiful. It\u2019s nice to see him finish it again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not that both victories were without controversy. In the final meters of stage 3, Philipsen appeared to cut off Jumbo-Visma\u2019s Wout van Aert, who was coming up fast on his right. The final decision to give him the victory was made by a race jury, who decided, correctly, that Philipsen had kept his racing line and that it was the line of barriers on the right that changed direction and squeezed van Aert, nearly causing a crash. That prompted Philipsen\u2019s main rival for the \u0160koda Green Jersey, Fabio Jakobsen (Soudal\u2013Quick-Step), to gripe, \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s the nicest victory of [Philipsen\u2019s] career,\u201d and to complain about the sinuous layout of the sprint course.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the finish, the first thing Van Aert told me was that he was happy to stay upright. I can understand him. He lost a chance to win,\u201d Jakobsen said. \u201cI think we (riders) and the Tour organizers need to look at the parcours and a finish like this. We all saw in the past what that can do, when a rider goes from one side to the other\u2026 We can have long kilometers for finishes, just don\u2019t use a downhill, don\u2019t use a left-right in the last 500 meters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jakobsen knows all too well the hazards of a tricky sprint. He suffered life-threatening injuries in a crash during a bunch sprint in the 2020 Tour of Poland and only recently returned to full fitness.<\/p>\n

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\ud83e\udd29 Who said the Tour was over? Stunned yesterday, @TamauPogi<\/a> answered in the best possible way today!<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfac Here's the \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 summary of this 6th stage of the #TDF2023<\/a>! pic.twitter.com\/bwHQHat17M<\/a><\/p>\n

— Tour de France\u2122 (@LeTour) July 6, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n