Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) has been cleared to start out stage 4 of the Tour de France after recovering in a single day from the crash that prevented him from competing within the first bunch dash of the race.
Alpecin-Deceuninck introduced the information on the morning of stage 4, when additionally they confirmed that lead-out man Jonas Rickaert would take the beginning in Pinerolo after coming down in the identical crash.
“Soon the fourth stage will begin in the Tour de France with Jasper Philipsen, who crashed yesterday. Luckily our prime sprinter had evening and appears to have recovered nicely from the bruise and abrasion on the fitting buttock,” learn a social media post from the team.
“Also Jonas Rickaert, who suffered a bruise on the fitting decrease leg, is feeling higher after remedy with ice and an anti-inflammatory. We begin at full energy once more this afternoon and Jasper and Jonas can recuperate a bit extra at the moment with the following dash stage in thoughts.”
Philipsen was the Tour’s greatest sprinter in 2023, netting three stage wins, however confirmed simply how a lot luck is required to win even one dash on the Tour as his Alpecin-Deceuninck group noticed the whole lot go fallacious within the last strategy to Turin.
Even earlier than he crashed, Philipsen’s possibilities had been hampered as world champion and prime lead-out man Mathieu van der Poel suffered a double puncture – his first of the season in line with group supervisor Christoph Roodhooft – 6km from the end, leaving the practice at a diminished energy and out of place.
Then, as Philipsen and the remaining Alpecin riders, who’re famend for his or her skill to maneuver up late and time their cost to the entrance, tried to get into place for the ultimate two corners, a crash additionally involving Israel-Premier Tech and Cofidis noticed their probability to win go up in smoke.
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Their sprinter hit the deck at excessive velocity and was noticed on the published with a teammate’s arm on his again as they rode away from the incident, ultimately crossing the road in 118th.
“The injury isn’t too dangerous contemplating the circumstances. I believe I hit the bottom at at the very least 60kph however fortunately it was highway,” mentioned Philipsen to Belgian media together with Het Nieuwsblad.
“We had been capable of swap gears fairly nicely after Mathieu’s flat tyre, however then riders in entrance of us bought caught up and I had no place to keep away from them. That is a disgrace, particularly since you miss the dash and thus factors for the inexperienced jersey.”
While he was irritated to overlook out on the opening dash probability after dominating all however one of many flat bunch finishes in 2023, Philipsen is aware of he ought to get 5 – 6 extra alternatives so as to add to his six Tour stage wins.
But his inexperienced jersey defence took an enormous hit, with him already over 30 factors down on the likes of Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and history-making stage winner Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty).
“We have not had a constructive day, however thankfully there are nonetheless alternatives. But after all, I’d have preferred it to be totally different,” mentioned Philipsen.
“I’m already pleased that I can proceed my Tour and that it is not too dangerous in any case, however I’d have preferred to take part. I’m boiling a bit inside, however that is biking and it is a part of it.”
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