That darned Jasper Philipsen! Germany’s sprinter hope Phil Bauhaus risked everything, raced towards the finish line like crazy, but again the Watt machine from Belgium was a touch faster. The 29-year-old from Bocholt had to admit defeat in the third duel with the almost untouchable Philipsen on Wednesday and finished third behind the day’s winner and Dylan Groenewegen.
“I’m happy to have made it onto the podium in the end,” said Bauhaus: “My legs weren’t that good, I suffered a bit yesterday. But hour by hour I felt better. I knew there weren’t that many chances left.”
Philipsen, on the other hand, snagged his fourth day’s victory in this year’s Tour de France, and it was his sixth overall. The 25-year-old from the Alpecin-Deceuninck team, who pushes over 1500 watts in the final sprint, gave the competition for Bauhaus no chance in the mass sprint of the 11th stage.
Just missed
Bauhaus (Bahrain-Victorious) must continue to wait for his first stage victory in the Tour of France. In the first week of the tour, he had just missed out on his premiere success with second and third place on the third and fourth stages, both times Philipsen also prevailed.
Nothing changed at the top of the overall classification after the 179.8 km from Clermont-Ferrand to Moulins. Defending champion Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) is still 17 seconds ahead of challenger Tadej Pogacar of team UAE Emirates. The highly exciting duel for the yellow jersey should pick up speed again on Friday at the latest with the mountain finish at the Grand Colombier.
Michael Eder, Clermont-Ferrand Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 4 Michael Eder, Clermont-Ferrand Published/Updated: Recommendations: 5 Michael Eder, Puy de Dôme Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 2
After the sharp start, a breakaway group of three immediately made off. However, the peloton did not let the breakaways completely off their leash, the lead was a maximum of three and a half minutes. While the racing action on the previous day was still very hectic, the peloton rolled easily over the three mild climbs in each of the fourth categories north to Moulins.
A tour stage had never ended in the Allier department before. After the fugitives had been caught 13.5 km from the finish, the scramble for the best starting position for the mass sprint began. The pace now increased noticeably, Bauhaus was right at the front, but Philipsen was once again the fastest in the end.
The finish in Moulins was probably the last chance for the sprinters to win the day. Only on the 18th stage deep in the last week of the tour do the specialists around Philipsen, Bauhaus and Co. get another chance to succeed.
On Thursday, the 12th stage offers good conditions for a breakaway group, which Georg Zimmermann also wants to join after his second place on Tuesday. The picturesque section through the famous Beaujolais vineyards to the Loire offers 168.8 km with five medium mountain ratings.
