A photo finish in Nogaro, and once again Mark Cavendish had the best place in the house.
Jasper Philipsen and Caleb Ewan reached the line together at Circuito Paul Armagnac, a motor racing track here in south-west France, after an accident-riddled drag race along the 700m straight. They raced and Philipsen edged out Ewan by a few centimeters to take back-to-back stage wins and cement his position as the alpha sprinter of this Tour de France.
Cavendish came fifth, one place better than in Bayonne on Monday, but he is still watching the fight rather than contesting it himself. That historic 35th stage victory still eludes him, but there are at least four more chances – if he continues to improve his place at this rate, he should win by Paris.
It was another slow-paced day in the peloton, the result perhaps everyone knew what was coming: two tough days in the high Pyrenees. After a smooth 190 km, the peloton arrived in Nogaro in one block, then crossed the narrow funnel to the track for the last 3 km.
It’s not often that the Tour ends on a motor racing circuit and that may have played into the tense climax. As the riders nervously jostled for position ahead of the final, there were three crashes, one of which wiped out one of the sprint favorites Fabio Jakobsen and later Cavendish’s Astana team-mate Luis Leon Sanchez, while Ewan’s Lotto-Dstny teammate Jacopo Guarnieri suffered. a broken collarbone.
“I think everyone who had a plan, every team, it didn’t come to fruition in the final for them,” Cavendish said. “There was no team in control… my boys got me exactly where I wanted to be, we were good there, but for each team it became chaos in the final. The corners are got tighter and tighter. It was a mix of riders. I think Luis went down so I’m a little nervous.
As in Bayonne, Mathieu van der Poel led his sprinter Alpecin-Deceuninck Philipsen until the last pangs and the Belgian did the rest.
“It was a hectic final with the turns and in the end I lost my team,” Philipsen said. “But on the home stretch I found Mathieu van der Poel and he made an incredible effort to lead me to victory. I had leg cramps and Caleb was closing in.
Cavendish regretted a missed opportunity as a late gamble to follow former world champion Mads Pedersen failed to pay off.
“I looked around and the only guy who still had a leading man was Mads, he had [Trek teammate] Jasper Stuyven. So I just thought, bam, I’m going to ride on him. I was waiting for them to leave, but they just didn’t. At one point I could have gone 350m – I wouldn’t have won, someone would have passed me, but I would have given myself a better chance. With a headwind, there is not much to do.
“I went audibly…swearing…before I even sprinted. And then it was just to enjoy it, I knew I couldn’t win. It’s good.”
Overall contenders like defending champion Jonas Vingaard, two-time winner Tadej Pogacar and yellow jersey Adam Yates took a day to keep their legs fresh for what’s to come, finishing safely together behind the frenzy coming.
The two milder days are over; Cavendish and the other sprinters must now fight for the next sprint in Bordeaux on stage seven. The Tour de France rarely heads for the high mountains in the first week, but the peloton faces back-to-back stages in the Pyrenees which both feature except category climbs, including the giant Tourmalet on Thursday.
We will have our first real clues as to the fate of this year’s yellow jersey.