On the 2021 Tour, in Paris, Jasper Philipsen cried on the Champs-Élysées. Wout van Aert snatched the victory and the man from Alpecin finished second, a position he held up to three times in that edition, accompanied by other third places. In 2022 he returned and settled his outstanding debt by achieving two victories: in Carcassonne and, precisely, in Paris, where he found no consolation a year earlier. What happened in 2023 was difficult to expect, not because of him, but because of the quality of his rivals, but a memorable Tour is coming together. He has four victories in five rounds and is on his way to taking the green jersey, since he leads his immediate pursuer, the Frenchman Coquard, by 145 points.
“It is being an incredible Tour de France. It is to be very proud of what we are achieving, and personally I am very happy with my performances. I was able to win without Van der Poel (this time he did not pitch him), but life with him is easier. I had to look for the wheel alone, and it was the one from Groenewegen. Later I was able to pass him ”, analyzed the Belgian at the finish line. No one has won four stages in the same Tour since Cavendish in 2021, and now the challenge is to follow up on the five that Kittel (the most recent rider to do so) achieved in 2017. “There will be more opportunities for the sprinters to the finish, but there will also be more people going for the breakaways. I am very happy with these four victories, and hopefully I will add another one, and the green jersey, in Paris. My advantage in that aspect is wide and it will allow me to play the stages in the Alps with more peace of mind”.