You have to be wary of days that start too calmly on the Tour de France. According to Jasper Philipsen, the fourth stage of this 2023 edition, Tuesday July 4, between Dax (Landes) and Nogaro (Gers), was “probably one of the most boring [sur l’épreuve] since a long time “. Promised to sprinters, it ended with a chaotic final on the Paul-Armagnac racing circuit, during which no less than six riders found themselves on the ground.
First to cross the line, as was already the case the day before, the Belgian from the Alpecin-Deceuninck team was not really surprised. No more, moreover, than his compatriot Tom Steels, the sports director of the Soudal Quick-Step training: “It was frankly a hell of a mess. As it was an easy stage, nobody was tired so the battle was all the more intense. »
After more than half of the 182 kilometers of the course, no breakaway had formed; in the annals of the Tour de France, you have to go back to September 2, 2020 to find traces of a day without any man at the forefront. As a symbol, it was near the Notre-Dame-des-Cyclists chapel, shortly after the intermediate sprint, that the prayers of the followers were heard.
In defiance of the morning instructions from Julien Jurdie, its sports director, Benoît Cosnefroy then took a few meters ahead of the peloton, looking for reinforcements. This one will come from his “youth idol”, Anthony Delaplace (Arkéa-Samsic), Norman like him. Here is finally a breakaway, formed 86 kilometers from the finish. “Why did we do this? I don’t know “, joked, during his getaway, the AG2R-Citroën rider with the broadcaster’s follower motorcycle. The Frenchman knew that the sprinter teams would never really let them take off.
Fabio Jakobsen on the floor
In many respects, Tuesday’s day followed the pattern of the day before: a peloton opting for a leisurely pace, before things got carried away 25 kilometers from the finish, when the two men were caught . In Bayonne, Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) was not far from falling in the last meters of the race, after touching Jasper Philipsen, who had shifted towards his trajectory. In Nogaro, another candidate for victory, Fabio Jakobsen (Soudal-Quick-Step), this time tasted the asphalt.
“It was really dangerous, even more than yesterdayinsists Mathieu Van der Poel. It was difficult to manage all the turns. » The Dutchman was again the centerpiece of his teammate’s victory. However, things were not “as fluid as the day before”, recognized Philipsen in a press conference. “We lost each other because the finale was very hecticdeveloped the Belgian. I still managed to find Mathieu’s wheel [Van der Poel] at the end. But I was happy that it was a short sprint. »
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