Tour de France 2023 Stage 7 recap: Jasper Philipsen denies Mark Cavendish with third win

Mark Cavendish's Astana Qazaqstan team have put in an appearance on the front to, in the oft-used words of Carlton Kirby, "buy their right" to take part in the sprint later on. Lotto Dstny have been tapping out tempo to bring Guglielmi to within 2'55" of the peloton under the early afternoon sunshine of southwest France.

Belgium's Wout van Aert was on the attack both days in the Pyrenees as Jumbo-Visma combined to propel their man Jonas Vingegaard into yellow. Our man Matt Stephens spoke to Van Aert this morning and asked him if he will ever take a day off?

"Er, yes! I hope to take it easy today." Will you be going for the sprint? "I don't think so. Tomorrow is a more suitable sprint for me, when the stage will be harder. I think it's about time to back off a little bit today and target one of the next days."

Did you expect Tadej Pogacar to be so strong on the final climb in Stage 6? "You always need to be prepared for that. But I think we saw how strong Jonas was the day before, so it's normal that we really went for it and gave it a go. Yeah, it turned out this way, but like you said, we're in yellow and we're in a good place."

The man going for a record 35th stage win in Bordeaux today made his Tour debut on this day 16 years ago in the London prologue of the 2007 Tour (he came 69th). Cav didn't pick up a win in his debut Tour but struck four times in 2008. His 14th career win in the Tour came in Bordeaux, the last time the race finished in the capital of the southwest back in 2010. Jasper Philipsen was just 13 years old...

Guglielmi pours a bidon of water over his head to cool down during his lonesome ride. He was initially with three other escapees but they all dropped back to the peloton shortly after the start of the stage. Guglielmi looked like he wanted to join them, but he was told by his Arkea-Samsic DS to stay out and press on. Poor chap.

Our lone leader is seven days into his debut Tour de France and so far hasn't finished higher than 98th. Can he change that run today? It's doubtful. Given the efforts of riding solo in the heat, he will no doubt be shelled out the back of the peloton on the fast approach to Bordeaux. If he does do the impossible and go the distance, it would be the 26-year-old's first ever pro win. This is his fourth Grand Tour in total.

The gap continues to drop for the lone leader who, it's worth mentioning, is a whopping 1hr 22min down in the GC and so no threat to the yellow jersey of Jonas Vingegaard. Talking of the Dane, Lionel Birnie of the Cycling Podcast compared his trip to pick up the yellow jersey on the podium yesterday to a child being given some vouchers for their birthday but told they can't spend them on sweets, only vegetables.

Here's Robbie McEwen's take on the defending champion's return to yellow after he lost time to Stage 6 winner Tadej Pogacar at Cauterets.

A combination of Lotto and Alpecin on the front has resulted in Guglielmi's lead coming down to 5'40" as the race passes through the town of Roquefort. Not the same Roquefort responsible for the pungent blue cheese but a nice sleepy town in the Landes best renowned for its circular wooden arena, which plays host to a number of local events.

If Ewan does go one better and take a win today then he'll have to do it without his lead-out man Jacopo Guarnieri who, along with Mark Cavendish's Astana Qazaqstan team-mate Luis Leon Sanchez, crashed out of the race in the chaotic finale of Stage 4. Both riders broke their collarbone when hitting the deck at speed on the Nogaro race circuit.

Australia's Caleb Ewan finished third and second in previous bunch sprints this week so his natural progression is to top the podium today in Bordeaux. It's for that reason - plus the small matter of Guglielmi's seven-minute lead - that his Lotto Dstny team have now come to the front to take control of the chase. On his day Ewan is one of the fastest finishers in the pack. The only problem is that his day hasn't coincided with the Tour for three years now.

The team-mates of Jasper Philipsen - who is going for a hat-trick of sprint wins today - have come to the front to regulate the tempo now that the advantage of the lone leader is up to 6'30". Mathieu van der Poel has been instrumental in Philipsen's wins this week, but the Dutchman was in the breakaway yesterday and so may be feeling a little zonked today.

Without really putting in much effort, Simon Guglielmi finds himself 3'15" clear of the peloton in the intense heat of southwest France as the race creeps through the dense woodland of the Landes along straight and flat and painstakingly nondescript roads. You have to feel for the Arkea-Samsic rider, who has really drawn the short straw out there...

Poor Simon Guglielmi will be wondering if it was something he said... or perhaps ate? Because the Frenchman is now the only rider clear. Abrahamsen was the first to sit up after less than a kilometre out, followed swiftly by Oliveira. The two Frenchmen then carried on together before Burgaudeau decided it wasn't worth the candle, leaving his compatriot out alone. Guglielmi then had a chat with his DS through the radio before receiving the news he probably didn't want: keep going, Simon.

It looks like the day's break has already been decided as four riders ping off the front. They are Nelson Oliveira (Movistar), Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies), Simon Guglielmi (Arkea-Samsic) and Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X).

Christian Prudhomme waves the flag and gets this stage under way. It will be interesting to see if anyone is interested in going clear given the heat and terrain today - especially after the difficulties of the past two days.

This is the stage with the least amount of climbing in this year's Tour de France, with just the one Cat.4 climb around 40km from the end of the 170km schlep to Bordeaux.

There are a maximum 70pts up for grabs in this flat stage - 50pts at the finish and 20pts at the intermediate sprint - which could rekindle the green jersey battle. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) is the current leader after his two stage wins - but Frenchman Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) got in the breakaway the last two days to take maximum points in both intermediate sprints, which has propelled him into second.

1. Jasper Philipsen 150pts
2. Bryan Coquard 104pts
3. Wout van Aert 92pts
4. Victor Lafay 80pts
5. Mads Pedersen 76pts

If Jai Hindley only enjoyed one day in yellow, then the same fate was in store for Austria's Felix Gall (AG2R-Citroen) who conceded the polka dot jersey to the man from whom he took it just 24 hours earlier.

Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) managed to bridge over to the break yesterday and then took maximum points over the Col d'Aspin to steal a march over his rivals - who now include Portugal's Ruben Guerreiro (Movistar) and Tobias Johannessen (Uno-X) after they, too, enjoyed a day on the front of the race. Indeed, the Dane was first over the top of the Tourmalet and then finished third on the stage to mark a solid day in the saddle.

1. Neilson Powless 36pts
2. Felix Gall 28pts
3. Tobias Johannessen 26pts
4. Ruben Guerreiro 22pts
5. Tadej Pogacar 19pts

It must have been bitter-sweet for the Dane yesterday as he took over the yellow jersey from Stage 5 winner Jai Hindley but with a considerably smaller advantage than he would have hoped. Pogacar's attack on the final climb in Stage 6 saw him take back 25 seconds - plus four bonus seconds over the line - which gives the GC an entirely different hue.

1. Jonas Vingegaard
2. Tadej Pogacar +25
3. Jai Hindley +1:34
4. Simon Yates +3:14
5. Carlos Rodriguez +3:30
6. Adam Yates +3:40
7. David Gaudu +4:03
8. Romain Bardet +4:43
9. Thomas Pidcock +4:43
10. Sepp Kuss +5:28

What a difference 24 hours makes, eh? On Wednesday evening many believed that Jonas Vingegaard already had one foot on the Paris podium after the Dane dropped his big rival on the Col de Marie Blanque and then crossed the line over a minute clear of the two-time winner.

What a difference 24 seconds makes, eh? On Thurday, Vingegaard's Jumbo-Visma team put in another commanding performance as they looked to put the yellow jersey battle to bed on the second day of the Pyrenees. Sepp Kuss and Wout van Aert put their man in the perfect position - but when push came to shove on the climb to Cauterets, it was Tadej Pogacar and not Vingegaard who pulled the trigger.

Take a bow, Tadej!