Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) was relegated following a deviation from his line within the remaining chaotic dash on stage 6 of the Tour de France by which he completed in second place to Dylan Groenwegen (Jayco-AlUla), however the Belgian rider feels the penalty shifted undue concentrate on his sprinting.
Talking in his column in Het Belang van Limburg, Philipsen emphasises that he felt it was the correct plan of action to apologise to Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), who claimed to be “boxed in” Philipsen within the dash.
Nevertheless, echoing his group supervisor Christoph Roodhooft’s feedback, Philipsen revealed he felt unduly focused.
“After what occurred on Thursday, I do really feel focused. A lot worse issues have occurred previously,” he stated.
Believing that he’ll now be racing beneath a microscope, Philipsen stated, “I do know that I shouldn’t tense up through the upcoming dash alternatives, however that’s simpler stated than finished.”
“Up till now, I’ve been sprinting purely on intuition,” he continued. “I’m afraid that one thing like that will likely be harder and that I’ll need to be extra conscious of my actions throughout such a remaining dash.”
Philipsen went into element within the demoralising aftermath of the stage end, the place Groenwegen narrowly beat him to dash victory.
“Instantly after the end I already had a suspicion that the victory was not for me,” he stated. “Normally you are feeling that as a sprinter.”
The information of declassification after which deductions to his inexperienced jersey factors created a “critical pile-up of disappointments.”
“I can let you know that I did not keep optimistic the entire time,” he stated. “Particularly as a result of I used to be initially unaware of any wrongdoing. At no level did I’ve the intention to hazard a colleague.”
Van Aert’s unique response to the incident was fairly at odds with Philipsen’s notion of occasions. “I am particularly glad that I stayed upright,” Van Aert stated after the stage end. “But when there is no sanction, that will make me offended. They should not throw him out of the Tour, however he must be declassified.”
“If they do not punish that severely, everybody thinks that something goes. It is an more and more huge drawback.”
Regardless of some seemingly unhealthy blood between the 2 sprinters, Van Aert was fast to simply accept Philipsen’s apology, posting on Philipsen’s Instagram put up apology: “Apology accepted”.
Philipsen additionally took purpose on the portrayal of him as an antagonist in Netflix’s second sequence of Tour de France: Unchained, believing it uninvited an unfavourable notion of his sprinting. “I already identified that hazard to my teammates through the altitude coaching. I actually stated that ‘a disqualification for an unconsciously carried out manoeuvre’ can be the best hazard for me. And look… it sadly occurred.”
The 2 riders will enter stage 8 of the Tour de France with one fewer dash contender as Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) has left the race. With the rolling nature of the stage, it’s prone to be a battle between the dash groups and the breakaway.
