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Philipsen ends Tour de France drought with stage victory

Jasper Philipsen
Jasper Philipsen punches the air in celebration after winning stage 10 at the Tour de France Credit: Reuters/Molly Darlington

Jasper Philipsen put the frustrations of a difficult opening week behind him as he sprinted to victory on stage 10 of the Tour de France.

In the opening nine stages of this Tour, Philipsen had two second places and was relegated from another for deviating from his line, but it all came together in Saint-Amand-Montrond as he comfortably beat Biniam Girmay and Pascal Ackermann to the line.

Mark Cavendish, a winner on a similar finish here back in 2013, found himself out of position in the final kilometres and was unable to contest the sprint.

Instead the celebrations belonged to Philipsen and his Alpecin-Deceuninck squad, who felt they had a point to prove after watching rivals Girmay, Cavendish and Dylan Groenewegen prosper in the opening week.

“I think you can say [it is relief],” Philipsen said. “Last week was not a great week for us with some bad luck of course. It is a big relief, we can finally show our strength together with the lead-out train. We did finally what we came for and we could line it up, a perfect job from the team.

“I think everybody has been growing in this Tour. Maybe we didn’t start in our very best shape, but we all feel healthy, we feel good and we’re happy we can start the second week with a win.

“It was a tough week, it’s already stage 10 and there have been five sprints without a win so finally today we can do what we came for. The team kept believing and everybody deserved a win.”

The sprint finish meant no changes at the top of the general classification, with Tadej Pogacar leading by 33 seconds from Remco Evenepoel, and defending champion Jonas Vingegaard 75 seconds down before Wednesday’s return to the mountains and a stage to the ski resort of Le Lioran.

Philipsen’s Alpecin-Deceuninck team were among the few to hold their lead-out train together in a scrappy finish to the 187km stage from Orleans as they negotiated a twisty finale through town.

Philipsen had faced criticism in the opening week for some of his tactics in the sprints – and the deviation that saw him relegated from second place on stage six in Dijon.

But this time world champion Mathieu van der Poel delivered the perfect lead-out to put the Belgian in position to deliver victory.

Cavendish, looking to double up after his record-breaking 35th career Tour stage win last week, had been on the wheels of his Astana Qazaqstan team-mates but they lost ground on a roundabout five kilometres from the line and were then split up.

Eleven years ago, the Manxman triumphed from a much-reduced sprint on this finish after crosswinds had split the peloton.

There was the risk of splits again on the exposed roads of central France, but this time the teams were more alert to the danger.

Speeds were above 70kmh as they came out of the Sologne forest and into the danger zone with around 60km to go, but no splits developed and the pack came to Saint-Amand-Montrond as one. PA

Philipsen claims victory on stage 10: As it happened . . .

Philipsen on the podium

Jasper Philipsen celebrates his stage victory on the podium
A first stage victory at the 2024 Tour for Jasper Philipsen Credit: Anne-Christine Poujoulat/Getty Images

Top 10 in general classification after stage 10

No changes to the top 10 but here are the standings:

  1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 40hrs 02mins 48secs
  2. Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) +33secs
  3. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +1min 15secs
  4. Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +1mins 36secs
  5. Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) +2mins 16secs
  6. Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) +2mins 17secs
  7. Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +2mins 31secs
  8. Mikel Landa (Soudal-Quick Step) +3mins 35secs
  9. Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech) +4mins 2secs
  10. Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) +4mins 3secs

Alpecin-Deceuninck celebrate their first victory at 2024 Tour

Philipsen gets his win

Having won four stages a year ago, the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider has had to wait until stage 10 to claim a victory this year.

The thoughts of stage winner Jasper Philipsen

Top 10 on stage 10

  1. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 4hrs 20mins 06secs
  2. Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) Same time
  3. Pascal Ackermann (Israel-Premier Tech) “
  4. Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) “
  5. Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) “
  6. Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) “
  7. John Degenkolb (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) “
  8. Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) “
  9. Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-AlUla) “
  10. Axel Zingle (Cofidis) “

Celebration time for Alpecin-Deceuninck

Jasper Philipsen celebrates with Robbe Ghys
Philipsen's first win at this year's Tour Credit: Thomas Samson/Getty Images

Top five in the points classification

  1. Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) 267pts
  2. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 193
  3. Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) 107
  4. Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) 101
  5. Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) 100

The final kilometre

Enjoy!

The winning moment

Jasper Philipsen celebrates winning stage 10
Jasper Philipsen wins stage 10 Credit: Molly Darlington/Reuters

Top five across the line

  1. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
  2. Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty)
  3. Pascal Ackermann (Israel-Premier Tech)
  4. Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike)
  5. Fernando Gaviria (Movistar)

Philipsen wins

Mathieu van der Poel gives Jasper Philipsen a good leadout and the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider who won four stages last year secures his first victory at this year’s Tour. Girmay comes home in second and Ackermann in third.

500m to go

Cavendish is nowhere to be seen. This is going to be between Philipsen, Girmay, Gaviria and van Aert.

1km to go

Under the flamme rouge we go and all the big hitters are there.

1.5km to go

Astana Qazaqstan hit the front but Cavendish is further back.

2km to go

Girmay is on the wheel of Philipsen with De Lie on Girmay’s wheel.

3km to go

Cavendish has dropped back a bit but is in a similar position to the likes of Girmay and Philipsen.

4km to go

Traffic islands are causing an issue for the riders with Philipsen dropping back a little. We hit the safe zone for all the GC riders.

5km to go

Cavendish is well positioned near the front with three teammates in front of him.

6km to go

We have got over the little uncategorised climb and now on a descent so the speed is very high.

8km to go

The whole peloton is bunched up together as we hit 8km to go. The likes of Philipsen and De Lie are trying to make their way towards the front.

9km to go

We have a small climb that should not be an issue for the sprinters but you never know what might happen.

10km to go

We are now within 10km of the finish. The general classification teams are keeping their leaders safe at the front and the leadout trains for the sprinters are beginning to form.

13km to go

Astana Qazaqstan Sport Director Mark Renshaw has told his team to move up to the front.

Dutch supporters showing their support
The Dutch cheering on Dylan Groenewegen for today's sprint or maybe Fabio Jakobsen? Credit: Thomas Samson/Getting Images

15km to go

Didi the Devil by the side of the road
Didi the Devil showing his face on stage 10! Credit: Daniel Cole/AP

18km to go

Currently on the front we have Visma-Lease a Bike, Team UAE Emirates, Lidl-Trek, Israel-Premier Tech and Ineos Grenadiers and Soudal-Quick Step. Those are mostly general classification teams looking after their leaders.

20km to go

We are inside the final 20km on stage 10. Who will come out on top? Will anyone try an audacious one-man attack?

24km to go

De Lie has made it easily back into the peloton.

26km to go

In the final stages of today’s stage we have three changes of direction so positioning will be pretty important for the sprinter leadouts.

Meanwhile one of the sprinters in contention for the victory, Arnaud De Lie, just had a mechanical so is making his way back into the peloton, which should not be an issue.

29km to go

Tadej Pogacar riding alongside Biniam Girmay
Yellow and green side-by-side Credit: Daniel Cole/AP

32km to go

We have had four bunch sprint finishes so far:

Stage three into Turin- Biniam Girmay

Stage five into Saint Vulbas- Mark Cavendish

Stage six into Dijon- Dylan Groenewegen

Stage eight into Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises- Biniam Girmay

38km to go

Things have massively settled down from where they were 15-20km ago. The pace has dropped to around 40km/h and it is an almost guaranteed bunch sprint finish now.

The peloton in action during stage 10
The pace has slowed down Credit: Anne-Christine Poujoulat/Getty Images

42km to go

Here is a snippet from our feature on Mark Cavendish which you can find here, where you can read about Cavendish’s win into Saint-Amand-Montrond in 2013:

“The vast majority of his wins have been a result of a lead-out train – his HTC-Highroad squad perfected the art – but Cavendish is a natural-born racer who has the ability to find gaps when most cannot see them, and opportunities when others do not. During the wind-battered 13th stage of the 2013 Tour, Cavendish spotted a chance and went for it. While his sprint rivals were caught out by echelons, Cavendish went toe-to-toe with Peter Sagan before pulling off what was, perhaps, the most impressive win of his career – a victory a seasoned classics rider would be proud of.”

46km to go

Some interesting costumes on show:

A fan in a bath costume by the side of the road
Man in a bath Credit: Jerome Delay/AP
Two fans, one in a pig costume, cheering on the riders
Another fan in a pig costume Credit: Jerome Delay/AP

50km to go

We have under 50km left on today’s stage and it looks like we are all set for a sprint finish in Saint-Amand-Montrond. Remember Mark Cavendish won the stage the last time the Tour finished there.

56km to go

We have hit the exposed roads but with the winds not being too strong will the peloton break up?

It is looking unlikely as the pace has settled down.

58km to go

Visma-Lease a Bike hit the front of the peloton as it is being strung out.

60km to go

There is plenty of road furniture as we hit Issoudun which is only going to increase the tension in the peloton. It had been calm for so long but it is the complete opposite at the moment.

62km to go

The pace is ramped up even further as Astana Qazaqstan and Ineos Grenadiers accelerate as we hit a roundabout and change direction.

The peloton during stage 10
Stepping up the pace Credit: Stephane Mahe/Reuters

63km to go

Cavendish has four of his Astana Qazaqstan teammates lined up in front of him on the left-hand side of the road. Ineos Grenadiers and UAE Team Emirates are in the middle with Visma-Lease a Bike on the right. Our yellow jersey man Tadej Pogacar is situated in the middle of the road, around three or four rows back. The Lidl-Trek riders are being told over team radio that the peloton is going to be nervous.

65km to go

The pace has certainly ramped up to just over 50km/h. We have a direction change coming up and the peloton is a lot more serious now than it was a couple of hours ago.

70km to go

Meanwhile in Italy...

New Zealand joins the Giro d’Italia Women roll of honour thanks to Niamh Fisher-Black, who took advantage of Team SD Worx - Protime’s numerical superiority in Toano to claim her second win of the season. Fisher-Black answered an attack launched by Mavi Garcia with 2km to go. The New Zealander counterattacked on the toughest part of the final climb, the last 1000 metres with double-digit gradients, leaving Garcia behind and winning by 6 seconds over a trio made up of her team-mate and new Maglia Rossa Lotte Kopecky, Juliette Labous, and the Maglia Rosa Elisa Longo Borghini. In the general classification Kopecky (13”) and Labous (25”) moved up to second and third place respectively, with the top 5 completed by the Maglia Bianca Niedermayer (59”) and the winner of the day, and new Maglia Azzurra, Fisher-Black (1’00”).

75km to go

Cyril the Clown poses next to the peloton
Cyril the Clown Credit: Daniel Cole/AP

78km to go

The man in the green jersey, Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty), has just stopped for a change to his back wheel.

80km to go

The Astana Qazaqstan riders have been warned about the wind over their team radio and told to get themselves into a good position. That is why they are at the front of the peloton. The last time we finished in Saint-Amand-Montrond at the Tour, Mark Cavendish won and the stage got significantly impacted by crosswinds that day.

The peloton pass over a bridge during stage 10
The pace is starting to ramp up Credit: Guillaume Horcajuelo/Shutterstock

85km to go

The roads ahead will be more exposed so crosswinds could prove problematic for the peloton.

A view through a medieval archway of the peloton during stage 10
Crosswinds and thunderstorms to come? Credit: Thomas Samson/Getty Images

90km to go

We have had some changeable conditions so far. We had rain earlier but now the peloton is riding in beautiful sunshine. Remember we heard over the Lidl-Trek team radio that the longer they take to get to the finish the wetter they will get. Thunderstorms are forecast for later.

96km to go

Darth Vader out supporting the Tour:

100km to go

The pace is just starting to step up as teams jostle for position at the front of the peloton with the threat of crosswinds coming up. You do not want to be near the back and get caught out by those winds.

We have just dipped below the 100km-to-go mark.

The peloton ride through on stage 10
The peloton taking it easy Credit: Guillaume Horcajuelo/Shutterstock

106km to go

Today is not expected to have an impact on the general classification but with crosswinds expected later in the stage, who knows! We can now hear from the man in yellow, Tadej Pogacar, ahead of today’s stage:

112km to go

A perfect picture to sum up the Tour de France:

Spectators cheer on the peloton
Support from the roadside Credit: Thomas Samson/Getty Images

117km to go

Here is the updated points classification after that intermediate sprint:

  1. Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) 237pts
  2. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin Deceuninck) 143
  3. Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) 107
  4. Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) 101
  5. Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny) 98

121km to go

Goossens is back with the peloton, which is now the front of the race. The roads are pretty wet!

122km to go

Here is the top five at the intermediate sprint:

  1. Kobe Goossens (Intermarché-Wanty), 20pts
  2. Harm Vanhoucke (Lotto Dstny), 17 
  3. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), 15 
  4. Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty), 13 
  5. Fernando Gaviria (Movistar), 11

123km to go

Jonas Vingegaard had to use Jan Tratnik’s bike for a significant portion of stage nine on Sunday and he has had to change a wheel on his bike but nothing to panic about.

Goossens has sat up and about to come back to the peloton.

127km to go

Goossens has left Vanhoucke behind and gone off on his own. Vanhoucke has dropped back now to the peloton.

Goossens was presumably being used by Intermarché-Wanty to take points of Biniam Girmay’s rivals for the green jersey.

128km to go

The front duo hit the intermediate sprint first so the maximum 20 points and 17 for second are gone.

The peloton catch the second group before they hit the intermediate sprint. We nearly have a crash as we come towards the sprint line as Philipsen was looking over his shoulder. He looked over his left and did not know that Girmay was on his right. Girmay was so, so close to hitting the barriers as Philipsen did not know he was there. The Belgian has developed a reputation when it comes to these sprints. Philipsen comes across the line third overall. 

 

132km to go

We are coming to the intermediate sprint at Romorantin-Lanthenay but the big points will not available to the peloton. It looks like the maximum for anyone in the peloton will be 10 points.

135km to go

The front duo of Goossens and Vanhoucke have a 25-second lead over Madouas, Geniets and Van Gils. It is then another 50 seconds back to the peloton.

Kobe Goossens and Harm Vanhoucke out in front
Two-man breakaway out in front Credit: Thomas Samson/Getty Images

138km to go

Now we have two Groupama-FDJ riders attack; Valentin Madouas and Kevin Geniets. Maxim Van Gils had dropped back a little from the front two but accelerates again when he seems the Groupama-FDJ duo coming through.

140km to go

We have an attack! Two riders from Lotto Dstny, Maxim Van Gils and Harm Vanhoucke, and one from Intermarché-Wanty, Kobe Goossens, have accelerated out of the front of the peloton.

143km to go

The Lidl-Trek team have been told over their team radio that the later the stage finishes the wetter it will be as thunderstorms are coming.

We have around 10km until the intermediate sprint at Romorantin-Lanthenay.

145km to go

A special milestone for Geraint Thomas today:

148km to go

More news! During the rest day Michael Morkov (Astana Qazaqstan) announced that he will retire at the end of this season. Morkov will be representing Denmark at the Olympics on the road and on the track.

153km to go

We have Olympics news! Nations have been announcing their teams for the Olympic Road Race. Julian Alaphilippe has been named in the French team alongside Kevin Vauquelin, who won stage two, Valentin Madouas and Christophe Laporte. Vauquelin will also compete in the individual time trial as France’s sole entrant. 

Spain have also announced their team which includes Juan Ayuso, Oier Lazkano and and Alex Aranburu. Ayuso will also compete in the individual time trial.

159km to go

We spoke about storms later in the stage but rain is already falling. It could be a little on and off.

Fans show their support during stage 10
Fans showing their support Credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images

162km to go

Things are very steady in the peloton with no attacks so far. There is a risk of storms towards the end of the stage and we could have crosswinds later so it could very much be a case of the calm before the storm.

The peloton during stage 10
Everyone taking it easy Credit: Anne-Christine Poujoulat/Getty Images

167km to go

Biniam Grimay (Intermarché-Wanty) became the first black African to win a stage at the Tour on stage three in Turin but then made it two stage victories in Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises on stage eight. He currently holds the green jersey (points classification) and here he is speaking ahead of today’s stage:

172km to go

Today’s stage should not have an impact on the general classification but here is the top five:

  1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 35hrs 42mins 42secs
  2. Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) +33secs
  3. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +1min 15secs
  4. Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +1min 36secs
  5. Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) +2min 16secs

177km to go

Here is how the top five in the points classification (green jersey) looks after stage nine:

  1. Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) 224pts
  2. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 128
  3. Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) 107
  4. Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) 96
  5. Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny) 92

We do have an intermediate sprint at Romorantin-Lanthenay with 130km left, which is in around 55km time.

181km to go

Amidst the chaos of the gravel sections on stage nine on Sunday, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) had to ride a significant portion of the stage on his teammate Jan Tratnik’s bike. Vingegaard will be back on his own bike today!

184km to go

The last time a Tour stage finished in Saint-Amand-Montrond, Mark Cavendish was victorious back in 2013. Here he is speaking ahead of today’s stage:

Flag drops

We hit kilometre zero and off we go on stage 10!

No sign of anyone interested yet in forming a breakaway. A quiet start to stage 10.

Stage 10 profile

Profile of stage 10

Stage 10 preview

Good afternoon and welcome to stage 10 of the 2024 Tour de France. We are coming off the first rest day of the 2024 Tour and it felt like everyone needed it. Before the rest day Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) claimed victory on stage nine on a dramatic day over 14 gravel sections to make it three French victories at the Tour this year. Turgis pipped Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) and Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech) at the line as the riders had to negotiate all those gravel sections. Despite worrying moments for a few of the general classification contenders, all of them came in together with the same time.

Today is set to be a day for the sprinters as we have a 187.3km flat stage from Orléans to Saint-Amand-Montrond. Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) has one stage victory to his name, the historic 35th on stage five, whilst Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) already has two. He is currently in possession of the green jersey (points classification) and has a near 100-point advantage over Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), who won four stages at the Tour last year but has yet to win a stage so far this year. Others to look our for include Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny) and Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-AlUla).

Today should not have any ramifications on the general classification, where Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) has a 33-second lead over Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) and a one minute and 15 second-advantage over Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike).

Could Cavendish make it 36 stage victories today? Will Philipsen secure his first at this year’s Tour? Can Girmay continue his strong form with stage victory number three? All those questions will be answered in the next few hours. Stay with us for all the action from stage 10.

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