"This could only increase the aggressiveness for the next sprints" - Jose De Cauwer feels Jasper Philipsen has been harshly punished at Tour de France

Not for the first time, Jasper Philipsen's sprint was the subject of much controversy on stage 6 at the 2024 Tour de France. This time though, the race jury took action, relegating the Belgian, who'd initially crossed the line in 2nd. Not all are in agreement with the decision however.

Analysing the final sprint for Sporza, Belgian cycling expert Jose De Cauwer admits he can see why Philipsen would feel harshly treated by the race jury. "Wout van Aert passes Philipsen, but never gets past him. Philipsen is riding a bit faster at that moment. Does Van Aert not dare?" De Cauwer begins his assessment. "He only stops his legs a bit later."

In fact, De Cauwer believes Philipsen's relegation was more due to the controversy of previous sprints than any actual danger in the Alpecin-Deceuninck sprinter's move for the line in Dijon on stage 6. "It is a very tough decision that they take away his second place. And with that, almost the green jersey. This costs him thirty points. Valuable points. Girmay now has those thirty points and that makes a world of difference," explains the Sporza analyst. "This could only increase the aggressiveness for the next sprints."

"Actually, you should have drawn that line as a jury on Wednesday. But they didn't. And now they are drawing it. It's an accumulation of events. While that really shouldn't be allowed," continues De Cauwer. "You should never take the day before into account in your decision. You should not use offside in a previous match to whistle today. But I can ultimately agree with it. It was a 50-50 decision."

Finally however, De Cauwer shared a message of congratulations for the eventual stage winner, Team Jayco AlUla's Dutch national champion, Dylan Groenewegen. "I think it's great. He's been in good shape for a few weeks. A bit like the new Groenewegen. He uses a bit of Arnaud De Lie as a lead-out. He can light a candle for him. But congratulations, a great victory."