The makers of In the Heart of the Peloton, Netflix’s documentary series on the Tour de France, upped the ante a bit by presenting Jasper Philipsen as a “disaster” on two wheels.
It is the 25-year-old Belgian sprinter who identifies himself as such in the sixth episode, but the “nickname” seems to have been put in his mouth by the interviewer, who is not heard to intervene.
Philipsen was reacting then at the end of the fourth stage of the Tour de France of 2022, where he hastily celebrates what he believes to be his first victory in Calais. But the unfortunate did not see his compatriot Wout van Aert (Jumbo) arrive ten seconds before him.
An embarrassing moment that did not make the runner a celery foot. Let’s put that down to forced dramatization.
‘Jasper Disaster’ had shrugged off that unfair epithet by winning the stage 15 peloton sprint to Carcassonne, where he got the better of van Aert with an unstoppable bike throw.
After four second and four third places, this first victory in the Tour brought him to tears. He had doubled the bet with a prestigious success at the last stage on the Champs-Élysées.
Even without the help of his usual pilot fish *, Mathieu van der Poel, sick, Philipsen continued this momentum by crushing his opponents in the 11th stage, Wednesday, in Moulins.
The representative of Alpecin-Deceuninck clinched his fourth victory in five bunch sprints since the big start in Bilbao. The other time, he finished second behind ex-world champion Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek).
The official interviewer asked him if he “[realized he was] slowly going into Tour de France history”.
“What story are you talking about?” replied Philipsen, puzzled.
If the eight successes of Eddy Merckx (1970 and 1974), Freddy Maertens (1976) and Charles Pélissier (1930) seem untouchable, he could reach the six stages and join a multitude of riders in third place, including Mark Cavendish, who raised his arms six times in 2009.
Guillaume Boivin does not see who will come to worry him. “It’s total domination,” agreed the Israel-Premier Tech rider in the middle of a massage session, three hours after the stage ended.
“We already saw it last year. This year, even his whole season is exceptional. »
Second in Paris-Roubaix, behind his teammate van der Poel, Philipsen won two stages at Tirreno-Adriatico, won the classic Bruges-De Panne, Grand Prix de l’Escaut and Bruges before setting the wheels on his third Tour.
“In addition to his burst of speed, he has a great team and he gets over the mountain really easily compared to other sprinters,” Boivin said. So I have the impression that his dominance is not likely to change by the end of the Tour. If there is one thing, maybe it will be even bigger! »
After having had a “bad day” the day before the day after the rest, Boivin experienced “completely the opposite” on Wednesday, where he showed up at the front of the peloton 6 km and 3 km from the line. The ambition was to put his team-mate Corbin Strong in a favorable place before two critical roundabouts.
“The other days, we were a bit too far behind. We decided to try something different to pass these roundabouts which sometimes stretch the peloton quite a bit.
“When I left him, between the 3rd and 2nd km, Corbin was still really good, maybe 10th or 12th. But when I resumed, I saw that it slowed down a lot afterwards. The peloton came together like a ball and lost positions, I think. »
When it was time to start, Strong had to go around Luka Mezgeg (Jayco AlUla), the pitcher of Dylan Groenewegen, unfortunate second. Ninth Friday in Limoges, the 23-year-old New Zealander had to settle for 14th place in Moulins.
For the 12th stage, 169 km uneven between Roanne and Belleville-en-Beaujolais this Thursday, Boivin hopes to help a climber to participate in the breakaway, or even to integrate it himself, as he did on Sunday during the victory for his teammate Michael Woods at the top of Puy-de-Dôme.
The pilot fish, or “thrower”, is the last cyclist who clears the way and “throws” his team’s designated sprinter towards the finish line. Possessing an excellent burst of speed himself – and the ability to “rub” with his fellows at the front of the peloton – he must generate it a few hundred meters before the wire before pulling over to clear the way for his sprinter . As an illustration, the last kilometer of Wednesday’s sprint in Moulins took place at an average speed of 65.6 km/h for Philipsen – on a slight uphill false flat! –, which gives an idea of the speed of his pilot fish of the day, Jonas Rickaert.
67. Hugo Houle (CAN / IPT) at 7.81 s. Guillaume Boivin (CAN/IPT) at 35.113 sec. Michael Woods (CAN/IPT) at 1 min
27. Michael Woods (CAN/IPT) à 30 min 41 s82. Hugo Houle (CAN/IPT) à 1 h 32 min 14 s127. Guillaume Boivin (CAN/IPT) à 2 h 04 min 09 s
