Tour de France 2023: 'He's blocking him!' – Jasper Philipsen cuts up rival with 'bullying tactic' on Stage 18
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Updated 20/07/2023 at 17:35 GMT
The green mist descended for Jasper Philipsen on Stage 18 as the Belgian deployed a "bullying tactic" to stop an attack from Pascal Eenkhoorn. The Belgian, who was hunting a remarkable fifth stage win at the Tour de France in 2023, made an aggressive move that sparked a strong reaction in the Eurosport commentary box. Should Philipsen be punished for the incident?
Philipsen slammed for 'bullying tactic' after cutting up Eenkhoorn
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin–Deceuninck) was so desperate to ensure a bunch sprint on Stage 18 at the 2023 Tour de France that he almost forced another rider off the road in an extraordinary incident.
With 79km remaining and just 40 seconds separating the peloton from the three-man breakaway up the road, a number of riders saw it as an opportune moment to spring out of the bunch and set off in pursuit of the leaders.
But Philipsen, who was chasing a remarkable fifth stage win in the sprinters' green jersey, was not prepared to allow a big group up the road and picked out Pascal Eenkhoorn (Lotto-Dstny) for rough treatment.
The Belgian chased down an attack from Eenkhoorn before aggressively cutting across him, forcing the Dutchman to take evasive action to avoid a collision.
"Oh my life, he's blocking him," cried Carlton Kirby on Eurosport commentary.
"That almost seems unkind. My goodness. Philipsen is basically hounding everybody. He wants to own the day and others are saying 'no'.
"I don't like that one little bit. I think he will have lost some friends to be honest. There will be a lot of people watching this thinking that was a nasty move."
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'It felt like bullying' - Lloyd on Philipsen 'block' on Stage 18
Israel–Premier Tech rider Daryl Impey, guest-starring on Eurosport's coverage on Thursday, was also unimpressed at Philipsen's move.
"It's a little bit disappointing to be honest. It's their [Alpecin–Deceuninck] own fault for keeping the gap so close, of course you are going to entice other guys to get across," said Impey.
"But you can't go and block the road, put guys off and try to bully them… Had that been Tadej Pogacar or Jonas Vingegaard going across, would they have done the same move?
"So it's basically a bullying tactic. It doesn’t sit well."
Alpecin–Deceuninck sports director Christoph Roodhooft was quizzed about the incident by Eurosport's roving reporter on the motorbike, Adam Blythe, but claimed he did not see it.
"I don't like riding like that. Yes you want a sprint, that's very obvious, but it's up to your team to ensure you've got a sprint at the end of the day," added Dan Lloyd.
"You can't bully other riders and say 'look, the breakaway is set, there's three riders, we don't want you going up the road'.
"There's a race to be had and the race is now on. It's their own fault for keeping the break so close that the gap is now at a bridgeable point."
To his credit, Eenkhoorn soon attacked again on wider roads and quickly latched onto the breakaway.
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