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Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) claimed the opening sprint win of the Tour de France, capitalising on a strong leadout to take the win. His joy was threatened by a protest from Jumbo-Visma after Wout van Aert was squeezed by the 25-year-old on the inside line towards the barriers on the final bend to the line, but the victory remained with Philipsen.
"It was a tricky final, with that bend close to the finish line, and I took the shortest way to the finish," said Philipsen in reference to his sprinting line.
The Belgian was more effusive in his praise for his team, who came to the front of the race at the perfect moment, Mathieu van der Poel delivering him with speed that Philipsen was able to make good use of.
"It was a tense final, but this is the Tour de France: there are no presents to nobody, everybody goes all-in," said Philipsen. "I can be really happy with my team’s performance, great lead-out with Jonas and Mathieu. I am really happy I kept it to the finish line.
"The first sprint is the most nervous one, as everybody is fresh and motivated. There was a lot of stress bunch with 70 to go. Everyone fighting for the win. We will try to go for another stage win in the coming stages, as soon as tomorrow. I’m super happy to win the first sprint."
Neilson Powless (EF Education EasyPost) again made his way into the early breakaway on the mostly flat stage along the Bay of Biscay, taking out each categorised climb with an exuberant punch of the air to the delight of the Basque fans as he solidified his hold on the polka dot jersey.
Powless dropped away from the breakaway, leaving Pichon just by himself to lead the race into France, before being swept up by the peloton 44 kilometres away from the finish in Bayonne.
The sprint teams jostled for supremacy on the sweeping run-in to town, as both the sprinters and the general classification riders tried to get to the front of the race and stay out of trouble.
It ended up with Alpecin-Deceuninck taking over at the head of affairs with Mathieu van der Poel taking Jasper Philipsen in the final 200 metres with speed and heading towards the finish line round a slight bend. Van Aert immediately challenged Philipsen, but the sprint star kept pace and as he took the fastest line around the slight bend, he squeezed van Aert close to the barriers, causing the defending green jersey winner to stop his sprint.
Philipsen finished off the sprint to win the stage, his third in the Tour de France, with Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) in second and a fast-finishing Australian sprinter Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Dstny) in third.
Philipsen was made to sweat again as the protest came in and he was forced to wait for confirmation of its dismissal before the certainty of the victory was his.
Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) retained the yellow jersey as he finished safely in the bunch, with no change in the top positions.
