Philipsen missed the chance to win 5 stages of the Tour de France 2023
Stage 18 yesterday had a 185 km route from Moutiers to Bourg-en-Bresse, France. With a flat route, the cyclists maintain a distance, and the race is only really fierce in the sprint.
The quartet of Kasper Asgreen (Soudal–Quick-Step), Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X) and two Lotto Dstny drivers - Victor Campenaerts and Pascal Eenkhoorn - split the top about 50 km from the finish line and competed fiercely for the top spot in the sprint.
Racing at more than 60 km/h, this group of four cyclists entered the final kilometer with a six-second advantage over their pursuers. Here, Asgreen sped up perfectly to overcome Philipsen's belated effort with the help of the Alpecin-Deceuninck team.
Asgreen finished first with a time of 4 hours 6 minutes 48 seconds, and won the stage for the first time through five times in the Tour de France. Following are Eenkhoorn and Abrahamsen respectively. Last year, Asgreen withdrew six or eight races due to a left knee injury, and ended the season prematurely with fatigue syndrome just a month later.
"I really couldn't have done this without Abrahamsen, Campenaerts and Eenkhoorn. We all deserved to win because of our dedication," Asgreen praised the opponents, while admitting that it has been a difficult time since the early parting of the 2022 Tour de France.
Asgreen's win helped Soudal-QuickStep avoid a failed season, as the team plotted around sprinter Fabio Jakobsen, who left the tournament early on stage 12 due to injury.
Meanwhile, Philipsen finished fourth with a tight time and missed the chance to become the first cyclist in the five stages of a Tour de France since Marcel Kittel of Germany in 2017. Before that, he finished first in the 193.5km third stage from Amorebieta-Etxano in Spain to Bayonne, France, the 182km fourth leg from Dax to Nogaro and the 11th leg from Mont-Mar to Bordeaux in Southwest France, Ferrand goes to Moulins, France. "This is not a bad tournament, and I can be happy. Tomorrow will be another chance," Philipsen said shortly.
Asgreen's victory was the only surprise, as there were no changes in the competition categories after stage 18. defending champion Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar, the Slovenian champion in 2020 and 2021, were in the top group, finishing with an almost negligible time difference. Therefore, Vingegaard still kept the overall Yellow Vest with a total time of 72 hours 4 minutes 39 seconds, maintaining a distance of 7 minutes 35 seconds with Pogacar.
Similarly, Philipsen continues to keep the Blue Shirt for the sprint king with 352 points, while Giulio Ciccone of the Lidl-Trek team still holds the Red Shirt for the climbing king with 88 points.
Today, the 2023 Tour de France will race the 19th stage of the medium climb, 173 km long from Moirans-en-Montagne to Poligny France.
