Jasper Philipsen won Stage 11 of the 2023 Tour de France to join the ranks of active riders with at least four stage wins in a single tour. Philipsen out sprinted Dylan Groenewegen and Phil Bauhaus in Moulins, while Jonas Vingegaard collected the 17th Maillot Jaune of his career.
The stage rolled out with 169 riders at 1:26pm. Andrey Amador (EF Education-EasyPost) was the first to make an attack, and he was joined by Tony Gallopin (Lidl-Trek) and Matîs Louvel (Arkea-Samsic). Gallopin sat up but Daniel Oss (TotalEnergies) substituted him as he made the jump. The leading trio reached a maximum gap of 3’20’’ at km 25 where Alpecin-Deceuninck decided to take the responsibilities to pace the peloton. The teams of the top sprinters left with no win in the first four bunch gallops, namely Jayco-AlUla, Lotto-Dstny, and Soudal-Quick, respectively for Dylan Groenewegen, Caleb Ewan, and Fabio Jakobsen.
The peloton was in no hurry to catch the breakaway, but crosswinds later forced the GC teams to speed up in their move to position their captains close to the helm. With 54km to go, Louvel sat up, and Amador did the same 5km further. Oss remained alone. He forged on even when the rain made its first appearance on the roads of the Tour de France this year. The Italian veteran was reeled in 13.5km before the end. Soudal-Quick positioned Fabio Jakobsen at the front with 10km remaining.
Jumbo-Visma took over from the sprinters’ teams, firstly to keep Jonas Vingegaard out of trouble until 3km to go, secondly to pave the way for Wout van Aert. Dylan Groenewegen got the best lead out and launched the sprint but Philipsen was smart to follow his slipstream in the absence of Mathieu van der Poel in the finale this time around. The Belgian passed him to score his fourth stage win this year.
“I’m happy I could find Groenewegen’s wheel,” said Philipsen. “It’s an incredible Tour so far. I can’t realize how good it’s all going. I’m so proud. I’m happy with my shape. I had to get to final without problems. I managed it. I’m super happy. I can also win without Mathieu, but he makes it easier when he’s up there. Today I had to find some wheels and to find my space. I’m happy I could find Dylan’s wheel, then he opened space and I could overtake. There might be three more sprint opportunities, but there are also people going for breaks. Hopefully I’ll get some more wins, but above all taking this jersey to Paris is the main goal now.”
“I needed to be careful,” said Maillot Jaune holder Vingegaard said after the stage. “This was a tricky stage. As a GC rider, you can lose the Tour de France on a stage like this one. You need to be careful. I have an amazing team, they kept me safe into the final. After the 3km banner, we just focused on surfing wheels and reaching the finish line safe. I’m thankful to my team. I feel good and ready for what’s to come. Tomorrow’s stage is tricky, so we will need to be careful. I’ll try to hold on to this yellow jersey, because my daughter Frida loves the lions I get in stage. I have to get her as many as I can!”
Stage 11 Brief Results
- Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin – Deceuninck) @ 4h01’07”
- Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco – AlUIa) s.t.
- Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) s.t.
- Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) s.t.
- Mads Pedersen (Lidl – Trek) s.t.
General Classification After Stage 11:
- Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo – Visma) @ 46h 34′ 27” – B : 11″
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) @ 17″- B : 26″
- Jai Hindley (Bora Hansgrohe) @ 2’40” – B : 18”
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