“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
Cycling
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.
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Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
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🚴♂️🇫🇷 | Een bloedstollende sprint. Is het Groenewegen of Philipsen? Het is Dylan Groenewegen! De eerste overwinning voor Nederland deze Tour de France is een feit. 🇳🇱🇳🇱🇳🇱 #TDF2024 📺 Koers kijk je via HBO Max
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