Tour de France: Jasper Philipsen reignites green jersey battle with Stage 16 win as Biniam Girmay crashes

Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin–Deceuninck) reignited the green jersey battle with victory on Stage 16 at the Tour de France as Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) contested his final sprint on the sport's biggest stage.

Mathieu van der Poel and his Alpecin–Deceuninck colleagues gave Philipsen the perfect leadout, with the Belgian closing to within 32 points of leader Biniam Girmay (Intermarche–Wanty), who crashed in the closing stages.

With no finale on the Champs-Elysees due to the Paris Olympics, Tuesday's 188km stage to Nimes was the last opportunity for the sprinters to claim glory at this year's race.

That may have been why there was barely any breakaway interest when the race director, Christian Prudhomme, waved the yellow starter’s flag at kilometre zero.

Stefan Kung (Groupama FDJ) bolted immediately out of the bunch, only to pull to the side of the road for a comfort break after just a few hundred metres. He then deposited himself back in the bunch as it passed. Sandy Dujardin (TotalEnergies), who had gone in pursuit, lasted a little longer, before realising it was going to be a forlorn solo break for him or nothing at all. A word to his team on the radio and his subsequent direction of travel indicated that he had been granted permission to opt for the latter.

Another possible reason for the lack of breakaway interest was the weather forecast, which had suggested at least the possibility of disruptive crosswinds. Jonas Vingegaard and his Visma-Lease a Bike team-mates were tipped to cause chaos in such a scenario, but conditions never materialised. The wind was always in the wrong direction to cause splits, or it was in the right direction and not strong enough.

Alpecin-Deceuninck was tasked with responsibility for dragging the peloton towards Nimes, and they did so at a respectable pace. The roasting roads of southern France made for more of a geotouristic spectacle than a racing one.

The intermediate sprint, which came halfway through the stage at Les Matellettes, altered the shape of things slightly. Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) claimed maximum points, while Philipsen got the better of green jersey Girmay to reduce the Eritrean’s advantage by four points.

The sprint also served as a springboard for Thomas Gachignard (TotalEnergies) to go out and stretch his legs. Even with company, the promising 23 year-old Frenchman was never going to be allowed to put himself in a threatening position. Completely on his own, it was a shop window attack at best.

Nevertheless, he achieved and held a lead that maxed out at just under 2’30", before his flame was gradually extinguished and snuffed out entirely with 25km remaining. The only mountains point of the day and the combativity prize were, in the end, fairly profitable reward for 75 minutes of riding.

Wordlessly or otherwise, sprint and general classification teams had agreed that getting home safe and delivering a big bunch gallop was the best way for the stage to end.

Containing an excessive 14 separate roundabouts, the 20km run-in was far from straightforward. Somehow the key protagonists managed to negotiate them all. Except one. 

Inside the final three kilometres, where the GC teams could afford to back off and make way for the sprinters, Intermarche-Wanty were notably far from the front line of riders. The extent to which this exposed Girmay to his subsequent fate is, like the cause of the crash, uncertain. What is known is that he was the only big name who went down and was unable to contest the finish.

Teams that put in a strong showing in the last kilometre included Uno-X, Bahrain-Victorious, Lotto-Dstny and Decathlon-AG2R. None came close to matching the unstoppable force of Alpecin-Deceuninck, as they executed a textbook team sprint victory.

Robbe Ghys gave all he had, before handing over to Van der Poel at 400m to go. The world champion fired the afterburners, taking Philipsen to the 200m line where the Belgian launched himself towards his most impressive of three victories at this year’s Tour de France.

Second place Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Victorious) could be pleased with his best ever stage result, but the German could barely hold Philipsen’s wheel, let alone compete for the win. Third went to Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X), a decade after he won in the same city.

Cavendish, somewhat delayed by the crash, finished what is almost certainly to be his last ever Tour de France sprint in 17th place.

A visibly wounded Girmay crossed the finish line several minutes later supported by two team-mates. By scoring no points in the finish and Philipsen having scored the maximum, his green jersey lead has been cut to 32 points. With no sprints left, Girmay should still finish the Tour in green, but it no longer is as sure as it was.

“I just hope Biniam is okay,” said Philipsen afterwards. “He doesn't deserve to lose it this way.”

Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) maintained his 3'09" advantage over Vingegaard heading into Wednesday's return to the mountains.

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