Jasper Philipsen Relegated Then Un-Relegated in Chaotic Tour de France Sprint Finish

It’s been a tough Tour de France for Jasper Philipsen and the rollercoaster of emotions continued Wednesday with the sprinter taking third place into Nevers, being relegated and handed a yellow card, and then finally being given the all-clear over his finishing sprint.

The Belgian sprinter crossed the line third behind Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility) and Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM) but was then dumped down to 119th place, last in the peloton.

There was confusion over what exactly he was relegated for, with his Alpecin-Premier Tech manager Christoph Roodhooft speaking to the race jury to find out why they faulted him.

Penalty reversals are rare, but that is exactly what happened today.

“I think it’s only right,” Roodhooft said, according to Wielerflits. “It was a good meeting. We looked at everything together. Those people had a lot more images than what we had seen. And in the end, they consulted again and the decision was reversed.”

He was asked what the issue was in the sprint and was non-specific in his answer.

“It’s hard to explain, because there are no images of that. I can make a story out of it, but I think it was two maneuvers. Yes… I can’t say anything more.”

‘I don’t see who is behind me’

The person who can say something more is Philipsen himself.

Footage from the stage shows him making contact with the Picnic Post NL rider Pavel Bittner, and this appears to be what the problem was.

“Of course it was a hectic sprint, like it is always in the Tour de France,” the 2023 green jersey winner said. “There was one moment when I had contact with a rider from Picnic but of course it was because the speed dropped a lot in the final 400 meters.

“The riders behind came with a lot more speed from the back. Of course I don’t have eyes in my back and I don’t see who is behind me.”

Relegation aside, being given a yellow card further increased the stakes of the meeting between the jury and Roodhooft.

“It was a disappointment that they relegated me, but in the end it will also mean that I didn’t do anything on purpose or anything wrong if they reverse the decision,” Philipsen said.

“So I am happy that they reconsidered the decision.”

Green jersey still within reach, but pressure is on

Philipsen has won 10 Tour stages in his career, with his four victories in the 2023 Tour also sealing him the green jersey.

He took three stages the following season but lost out to Biniam Girmay in the points classification. Last year’s race was a disappointment as his victory on stage 1 was followed up two days later by a big crash which took him out of the Tour.

This time around things haven’t gone to plan, with fourth on stage 8 and fifth place on both stages 5 and 7 being as close as he got to the win prior to Wednesday’s stage.

He’s now inched closer again to a victory, taking third into Nevers. Losing that result would have been a big blow and would have put his green jersey campaign under further pressure.

Thankfully he remains in the hunt, although he has a lot of ground to make up on Mads Pedersen.

Philipsen is third in the points classification, 62 points adrift of the Lidl-Trek rider.

Had his relegation stuck he would have been 40 points further back again, giving him an even more difficult task.

Thursday is expected to be another sprint finish and he will try to seize the moment and finally get to spray the champagne.