Jasper Philipsen left red-faced after celebrating finishing second behind Wout van Aert at Tour de France
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Published 05/07/2022 at 17:38 GMT
Jasper Philipsen admitted he thought he had won Stage 4 at the Tour de France after winning a bunch sprint. Sadly for the Belgian, he had only won the race for second, with Wout van Aert already basking in the glory of ending a streak of runner-up finishes. Philipsen said a problem with the team radio meant he was unaware his compatriot had raced away to victory.
‘Deadly demonstration’ – Van Aert conquers Stage 4 after Jumbo-Visma blow race apart
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) was left red-faced after celebrating winning a sprint on Stage 4 at the Tour de France, only to discover it was a race for second place.
The Belgian triumphantly roared after crossing the finish line ahead of Christophe Laporte (Jumbo-Visma) and Alexander Kristoff (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert Materiaux).
But there was a problem. Unbeknown to Philipsen, Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) was already celebrating victory after a memorable solo burst to the line.
“Surely he [Philipsen] must have seen Wout van Aert winning in the yellow jersey in front of him?” wondered Rob Hatch on Eurosport commentary.
“No, I don’t think he would have seen him,” chimed back Sean Kelly.
“He was probably in the wheels, just following, and he definitely thinks he has won there!”
Philipsen is in good company with his celebration gaffe. At the Tokyo Olympics last summer, Annemiek van Vleuten basked in the glory of winning the women’s road race – unaware that Anna Kiesenhofer had been waiting for over a minute beyond the finish.
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‘I thought we were sprinting for the win’ – Philipsen
“We were a bit too far back so we couldn’t see Van Aert on the front,” admitted Philipsen.
“I had really bad connection [team radio] so I just thought we were sprinting for the win. And then I saw him right in front of me when we crossed the finish line.”
In scenes reminiscent of their stunning attack on the opening day at Paris-Nice, Jumbo-Visma decimated the main bunch with a surprise move on the final climb.
Van Aert blasted clear on his own just before the summit and ripped away down the open road as he finally ended his streak of runner-up finishes.
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Stream the Tour de France live and on-demand on discovery+. You can also watch all the action live on eurosport.co.uk.
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