“I was closed in again by Jasper Philipsen. That’s a bad habit of his" - Wout van Aert left frustrated again at 2024 Tour de France

Wout van Aert continues to wait for some success at the 2024 Tour de France. On the bunch sprint of stage 6, the Team Visma | Lease a Bike star crossed the line in 7th, as Dylan Groenewegen secured victory on the day.

After the finish line was crossed however, van Aert was visibly frustrated. The result of the Belgian's anger, the perceived dangerous sprint of his compatriot, Jasper Philipsen. “I was closed in again by Jasper Philipsen. That’s a bad habit of his,” the 29-year-old recalls of the bunch sprint finale in Dijon. “It wasn’t super dangerous, I could still get to the brakes. But I was at the same height and he really went to the fences. He felt me, that’s not professional closing the door.”

"Am I angry? I'm mostly happy that I stayed upright," concludes the Team Visma | Lease a Bike superstar, who has a total of 9 Tour de France stage wins on his palmares already in his career. "I would be angry if there were no sanctions. Today it was one dangerous situation after another. My legs were good, I felt a lot better than the previous days. I'm happy with that."

Van Aert will be happy to have now heard that post-stage, Philipsen has indeed been sanctioned by the race jury. The Alpecin-Deceuninck sprinter, who last year managed to win the Green Jersey, had initially finished 2nd place on the stage but after review, has now been relegated due to the dangerous nature of his sprint and the action of shutting the door on van Aert. Whilst the winner of the day doesn't change, Dylan Groenewegen taking the victory, Biniam Girmay moves up to 2nd place, with Fernando Gaviria up on to the podium of the day, with van Aert in turn benefitting slightly and rising to a 6th placed result.