Is green jersey still possible for Jasper Philipsen after perfect finale? "Everything is possible"

Jasper Philipsen had big plans into the Tour de France but the first week proved to be a disaster. Now however the race has changed as he has now won three bunch sprints and even got back within range of the green jersey after Biniam Girmay hit the deck in the finale into Nîmes.

“I am very happy after such a team effort. It is always nice to win together and that is what we did today," Philipsen said in a post-race interview. “I did not see anything (about the crash, ed.). We were always good together with the team and tried to position ourselves. I did not see the crash, but I hope everyone is okay. I felt good today, I had a good rest day and I already felt that my form was getting better and better this Tour, so we had a lot of confidence today.”

The Belgian saw a perfect work from Alpecin-Deceuninck to position him into the finale, and lastly Mathieu van der Poel did the duty of final leadout man just as often happened in 2023. A textbook leadout where Jasper Philipsen was launched in perfect position and took the victory with relative comfort. With this, and Girmay's lack of points scored in the sprint, Philipsen now has 344 against Girmay's 376. The 32-point difference allows the Belgian to aim for the green jersey once again, even if there are no more sprint stages left - there are intermediate sprints on several stages still up for grabs.

“Everything is possible, but it will be difficult. Girmay is climbing very well this Tour. He does not deserve to lose the green jersey like this. We will try everything to win again, but there are tough stages coming up," he adds. "We will take it day by day, but first we will celebrate this victory".