Tour de France: Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) wins his fourth stage, this one in Moulins(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Jasper Philipsen wins high-speed run to Moulins, in central France(Image credit: Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP Getty Images)
Alpecin-Deceuninck's Jasper Philipsen (in green points jersey) sprints to the finish line ahead of Jayco Alula's Dylan Groenewegen (R) and Bahrain Victorious' Phil Bauhaus (C) to win stage 11(Image credit: Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP Getty Images)
Silvan Dillier congratulates stage winner and teammate Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck, in the Green Points Jersey, at end of stage 11 (Image credit: Marco Bertorello / Pool Getty Images)
Daniel Oss (TotalEnergies) is caught by peloton with just under 14km to race on stage 11(Image credit: Marco BERTORELLO / AFP Getty Images)
TotalEnergies' Daniel Oss rides in the rain as the lone survivor from the three-man breakaway(Image credit: Marco BERTORELLO / AFP Getty Images)
Andrey Amador of Costa Rica and Team EF Education-EasyPost leads the breakaway trio(Image credit: David RamosGetty Images)
The peloton passing a farm and rolls of hay during stage 11(Image credit: DAVID PINTENSBELGA MAG AFP via Getty Images)
The breakaway (L to R): Matis Louvel of Arkéa-Samsic, Daniel Oss of TotalEnergies and Andrey Amador of EF Education-EasyPost (Image credit: Michael Steele/Getty Images)
Two dogs sit on the front seats of a car parked along the race route as breakaway passes (Image credit: MARCO BERTORELLO AFP via Getty Images)
Spectators wearing inflatable dinosaur costumes cheer along the race route as the breakaway passes(Image credit: MARCO BERTORELLO AFP via Getty Images)
Jonas Vingegaard of Jumbo-Visma rides in the Yellow Leader Jersey in the peloton(Image credit: David Ramos/Getty Images)
Peter Sagan (left) of TotalEnergies chats with Julian Alaphilippe of Soudal-QuickStep during stage 11 (Image credit: Michael SteeleGetty Images)
Yellows of the Tour de France include sunflowers and the leader's jersey worn by Jonas Vingegaard of Jumbo-Visma(Image credit: JASPER JACOBSBELGA MAGAFP via Getty Images)
Giulio Ciccone of Lidl-Trek rides in front of Mikel Landa of Bahrain Victorious in the peloton during 179.8km stage 11 to Moulins(Image credit: David Ramos/Getty Images)
Pascal Eenkhoorn (right) talks with Lotto Dstny sprinter Caleb Ewan during stage 11(Image credit: David Ramos/Getty Images)
Stage 10 winner Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) covers the flat miles of stage 11 alongside Ion Izagirre of Cofidis(Image credit: David Ramos/Getty Images)
Alexander Kristoff (left) of Uno-X Pro Cycling rides with fellow Norwegian Edvald Boasson Hagen of TotalEnergies during stage 11(Image credit: David Ramos/Getty Images)
The peloton rides past a mural painted on the side of a building in a village between Clermont-Ferrand and Moulins, in central France(Image credit: Marco Bertorello / AFP Getty Images)
Jasper Philipsen of Alpecin-Deceuninck celebrates fourth sprint win at this year's Tour de France(Image credit: Tim de WaeleGetty Images)
Belgian Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) celebrates his stage 11 victory on the podium(Image credit: Marco BERTORELLO / AFP Getty Images)
Alpecin-Deceuninck's Jasper Philipsen extends his lead as the best sprinter and keeps the green jersey after winning stage 11(Image credit: Marco BERTORELLO / AFP Getty Images)
Jasper Philipsen of Alpecin-Deceuninck has a solid hold of the Green Points Jersey(Image credit: Tim de WaeleGetty Images)
Jasper Philipsen walks off the podium with prizes for winning stage 11(Image credit: Michael Steele/Getty Images)
Italian Daniel Oss shows his enthusiasm for winning the most combative rider award after the 11th stage(Image credit: Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP Getty Images)
Daniel Oss of Team TotalEnergies celebrates as most combative rider for his time in the breakaway(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Jonas Vingegaard of Jumbo-Visma receives another Yellow Leader Jersey(Image credit: Michael Steele/Getty Images)
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) holds the best young rider's white jersey(Image credit: Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP Getty Images)
Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) celebrates after a flat stage 11 with the best climber's polka-dot jersey(Image credit: Marco BERTORELLO / AFP Getty Images)
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) reasserted his dominance over the Tour de France sprint field with his fourth victory at the 2023 race on stage 11 into Moulins.
Following a wet, technical run into the final kilometre which was littered with roundabouts, Philipsen overpowered Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco AlUla) and Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X) after losing the wheel of Jonas Rickaert and the rest of the Alpecin-Deceuninck train prior to the final corner.
Philipsen was momentarily boxed in but moved up on his own onto Groenewegen’s wheel before kicking easily away from him in the final 150 metres for a fourth flat sprint win.
Groenewegen was second across the line, with Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) close behind for his third top-three finish in a bunch sprint on Tour debut.
The green jersey wearer has aptly been nicknamed ‘Jasper the master’ after his great success in 2023, in response to being called ‘Jasper the disaster’ by his own team in Netflix’s 'Tour de France: Unchained'.
However, he was quick to focus instead on his and Alpecin-Deceuninck’s consistent success in sprint stages, rather than a nickname after a fourth emphatic win.
“I said this morning, maybe if I win again today, yes,” joked Philipsen. “It’s been an incredible Tour so far. I can’t realise how good it is all going, so, I’m super proud and really happy with my shape, and also to get through the final without problems is also a big challenge, and we managed to do it four times, so I’m super happy.”
Philipsen had to navigate a sprint finish for the first time in the 2023 Tour without lead-out extraordinaire, Mathieu van der Poel, but showed he’s more than capable of surfing wheels and that his pure speed is equally as important.
“I can also win without him, but of course, he makes it more easy,” Philipsen said. “I had to find my wheel a little bit, and it’s also finding the space, and it’s hectic and dangerous for crashing, but I’m happy I could find a good wheel - [Dylan] Groenewegen - in the end, he opened up early, and I could go over.”
The Belgian fast man also wasn’t greedy after such a successful opening 11 stages, but was of course, delighted with his form and firm hold on the green jersey which he now leads on 323 points compared to Bryan Coquard’s (Cofidis) 178 in second.
“Maybe I see three more sprint opportunities, but there will be guys going for a break, but I’m already so happy so far, to take four, and hopefully, looking toward Paris, also, in this [green] jersey,” said Philipsen. “I think I’ve made a good gap now [in the points classification] and that gives me a bit of comfort going into the Alps.”
How it unfolded
After the brutal non-stop racing of stage 10 in the sweltering heat, the riders were pleased to see no real fight to get away from the peloton and a group of three forming as the breakaway at the front.
Andrey Amador (EF Education-EasyPost) was the first to slip off the front in anticipation of a larger break challenging for the stage, but only Daniel Oss (TotalEnergies) and Matis Louvel (Arkéa-Samsic) joined him.
As their gap grew, Alpecin-Deceuninck came to the front to ensure no big advantage was built and that a bunch sprint would be more likely for their sprinter and the most successful fast man at the race, Philipsen.
The three in front would get no more than 3:30 of a lead before the Belgian side began to reel them back in, aided in the chase by Soudal-QuickStep and Jayco AlUla for Fabio Jakobsen and Groenewegen, respectively.
All the KOM points along the route were mopped up by the break, alongside the top three places over the intermediate sprint into Lapeyrouse. Behind, Philipsen would extend his lead in the green jersey competition ahead of Coquard and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek).
With 80km remaining in the day and the peloton hitting wet roads through Montluçon, the break’s advantage had been reduced to only 40 seconds with Tim Declercq (Soudal-QuickStep) setting the pace, before they would turn right towards the finish in Moulins with a possible crosswind section approaching.
Flags on the route revealed how the wind was blowing across the road, forcing the GC teams to move towards the front and avoid any danger and with 55km to go the speed increased significantly for a few kilometres before the risk of splits dissipated.
Louvel and Amador knocked off their effort leaving Oss as the last man out in front on the road. The Italian rebuilt his advantage in pursuit of the combativity award and gold race number before being reabsorbed 13.5km from the line.
The heavens opened with rain in the final run into Moulins and would create more risk in the already technical final few corners and roundabouts for the sprint trains and GC teams to navigate.
All of the sprint teams came to the fore, but as has been commonplace in the 2023 Tour, the era of long lead-out trains has truly ended and it was Jumbo-Visma who actually dominated the front to keep Vingegaard safe before the 3km mark.
Philipsen kept disconnecting from his train in the final few corners and with Van der Poel not involved in the lead out, he had to navigate the final kilometre solo.
Groenewegen was brought to the fore perfectly by Luka Mezgec and as Kristoff hit the front too early he started his sprint, but behind him was Philipsen who had both hit the wind earlier than he would’ve wanted and battled shoulder-to-shoulder to find a sprinting lane.
Once the Belgian opened the afterburners, however, no one came close and by the line he was clear and again highlighting that he is the best sprinter in the world at the moment.
Philipsen’s fourth victory and 13 points from the intermediate sprint meant he further solidified his lead over the green jersey competition with a lead of 145 in front of Coquard.
James Moultrie is a gold-standard NCTJ journalist who joined Cyclingnews as a News Writer in 2023 after originally contributing as a freelancer for eight months, during which time he also wrote for Eurosport, Rouleur and Cycling Weekly. Prior to joining the team he reported on races such as Paris-Roubaix and the Giro d’Italia Donne for Eurosport and has interviewed some of the sport’s top riders in Chloé Dygert, Lizzie Deignan and Wout van Aert. Outside of cycling, he spends the majority of his time watching other sports – rugby, football, cricket, and American Football to name a few.
