2023-07-20 18:50:00
Strange action by Jasper Philipsen in the Tour. When Pascal Eenkhoorn felt compelled to attack, he was called to order by our compatriot. Philipsen, who was aiming for a fifth sprint victory, briefly cut off the Dutchman from Lotto-Dstny. This soon drew him some criticism. As if karma was involved, Philipsen was a few seconds short in the final straight to sprint for victory and Kasper Asgreen and Soudal Quick-Step were able to triumph. Philipsen saw no bones in his action: “This is simply the Tour. Top sport.” But Eenkhoorn was not served by it. “It made no sense.”
ODBS Jul 20 2023 Last update: 7/20/23, 8:39 PM
Read also. Philipsen curses for a missed opportunity, but should be happy that the jury did not punish him: “Pascal is a friend of mine, I immediately apologized”
© VTM / Photo News
The Côte de Boissieu at 79 kilometers from the finish in Bourg-en-Bresse was inspiring, because several riders in the peloton felt itchy. Wright and Unicorn stirred. Just like Philipsen, who, as an authoritarian spurt bomb in this Tour, was not happy with the attacks and ostentatiously started to lecture Eenkhoorn.
I just sped up to make it clear to Unicorn that we wanted to sprint. Nothing wrong or inappropriate happened there. That is top sport.
Jasper Philipsen
LOOK. Philipsen brutally cuts Eenkhoorn off the road
Criticism of the bizarre action was not forthcoming. “This is not ok, I wonder if the jury will intervene,” tweeted Dutch journalist Thijs Zonneveld. “Bullying a rider who wants to attack is really stupid”, is the opinion of Belgian podcast maker Benji Naesen. Philipsen is not ready for his test piece in this Tour: he was also under fire twice during the first week because of controversial sprints.
© twitter @thijszonneveld © twitter @BenjiNaesen © twitter @Jan_Bakelants
A few kilometers later, Eenkhoorn got away and with the help of teammate Victor Campenaerts he was guided towards the front runners Asgreen and Abrahamsen. Oh irony: the peloton then miscalculated in the final phase and arrived just too late to overtake the four. That’s how Kasper Asgreen beat Eenkhoorn, despite strong work by Campenaerts. Philipsen easily won the sprint from the peloton a few seconds later, but only bought fourth place for it. And lots of laughter.
Philipsen: “I countered Eenkhoorn because I wanted to sprint for victory”
“How is that possible. This is not possible, is it?” Philipsen groaned before boarding the Alpecin-Deceuninck bus. A little later he commented on Stijn Vlaeminck: “I was angry because we just controlled with the whole peloton and many teams and never came to a standstill. There was never any doubt in the pursuit. They were just very strong, those four. Surprising.”
Philipsen saw little to no problem with his bizarre maneuver. “I just accelerated to counter Eenkhoorn and make it clear that we wanted to sprint. Nothing wrong or inappropriate happened there. Look, this is race and this is the Tour. Top sport. Then everyone does everything they can to maximize their own chances. They wanted to attack, we wanted to sprint. I also felt good and would have liked to have won, that’s all. In the end, I still do a good thing for the green.”
Eenkhoorn: “If we want to race, we can race”
Pascal Eenkhoorn did not see it that way. “I was harassed by Philipsen during my first attack,” he responded to NOS. “If we want to race, we can race. We lost Ewan, so we had to attack this way.” However, the former Dutch champion was not intimidated. “Then I am that cheeky Dutchman. I also know Jasper well and then grabbed him and said: that makes no sense, we will not do that again. I think he was a bit annoyed’, Eenkhoorn said. Very disappointed because he just couldn’t finish it. “When you’re in a position like that, you just want to win. I sat perfectly, but couldn’t get over Asgreen and then the strongest wins. A shame for all that work that Campenaerts did for me. How he, without consultation, continued that last kilometer to stay ahead of the peloton, that was very strong. Cheers.”
Pascal Eenkhoorn congratulates Kasper Asgreen on the stage win. © Photo News
Roodhooft: “Didn’t see what Philipsen did”
Sports director Christoph Roodhooft did everything he could afterwards not to blow up the case. He “had not seen Philipsen’s maneuver at Eenkhoorn”, Roodhooft did not blame his team for arriving too late.
“We did what we could, but we didn’t have everything in our own hands. There was Campenaerts who completely sacrificed himself for Eenkhoorn, there was little help from other teams (according to Philipsen that was just the case, editor’s note) and the final kilometers also went downhill more than we had expected. Moreover, the refugees also just did very well. But of course we are disappointed: we have been waiting a whole week for this opportunity. Fortunately, there will probably be another one on Sunday.”
Want to read more about the Tour de France? View all results and standings here. And on this page you will find all the Tour de France news, and everything you want to know about main characters such as Van Aert, Van der Poel, Pogacar and Vingegaard.
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and don’t miss a thing of the stars.
Yes, I want free unlimited access
#Bullying #rider #attack #stupid #Philipsens #bizarre #action #attracts #criticism #Eenkhoorn #grabs #sense #Tour #France