Jasper Philipsen 'incredibly disappointed' by 'unexpected declassification' on stage 6 of 2024 Tour de France: "I try to be an honest sprinter"

Jasper Philipsen's wait for glory at the 2024 Tour de France continues. Three sprint stages down, it's been three different forms of disappointment for last year's Green Jersey winner.

On stage 6, the Belgian was doubly disappointed too. After narrowly missing out on the stage win to Dutch national champion Dylan Groenewegen in a photo finish, Philipsen's frustrations were then further compounded by the face he was relegated by the race jury, for what they perceived as a dangerous deviation from his line, blocking out compatriot Wout van Aert in the process.

Although Philipsen was quickly ushered into the Alpecin-Deceuninck team bus post stage, he has now reacted to the disappointment of another near miss and the subsequent relegation via his team's channels. "Of course I am incredibly disappointed," begins the 26-year-old, six time Tour de France stage winner's reflections. "First because I was narrowly beaten and could not finish the perfect work of my teammates. Then even more so because of the unexpected declassification. As far as the declassification is concerned, I can do nothing but accept the decision of the jury.''

"I try to be an honest sprinter and I have no intention of hindering other riders and certainly not endangering them," Philipsen continues, pleading his innocence. "The jury thinks I did and that will undoubtedly be decided in good faith. It has not been an easy first Tour week so far, but we are not giving up. The condition is good and the team is doing a perfect job. There will be more sprint opportunities and we certainly want to keep trying to win a stage."

"I want to apologize to Wout, it was in no way my intention to hinder him or push him towards the fences. I want to win - just like every sprinter - but certainly not at the expense of other people's safety," Philipsen concludes. "As sprinters we play 'highest stakes poker', but I would never deliberately endanger another rider. Touching each other is part of sprinting, but I will always try to go for the win in the most honest way."