Tour de France peloton livid with Jasper Philipsen and Adam Yates after stage 13 madness: "I told Adam Yates fifteen times to sit up and he said no"

Emotions run high at the Tour de France, and as the weeks go by riders start to feel the fatigue more but also the pressure to achieve results. Stage 13 was the 9th fastest ever stage in the history of the race and plenty riders were angry at the end over Adam Yates' presence in the breakaway; but also Jasper Philipsen's repeated dangerous behaviour in the bunch sprints.

The Belgian sprinted to victory ahead of Wout van Aert but the rider who finished third, Pascal Ackermann, lashed out against the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider after the stage finish. Philipsen was already relegated on stage 6 due to an irregular sprint, but in almost every occasion there are complaints of his risky movements in the peloton. He has done it once again.

“I hope they take him back today because it’s too much," Pascal Ackermann said in a post-race interview. "Philipsen took my front wheel when he was passing me, and when he turned right I nearly crashed. He’s done it the same so many times now and he’s still doing it," the German sprinter argues, having refused to congratulate him for the stage win. Second place Wout van Aert has already in previous days suffered from the same moves and afterwards criticized Philipsen for refusing to apologize in person. Safe to say it was not a popular stage win.

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But more riders were upset in Pau. Early in the day 21 riders went up the road forming an immensely strong breakaway, but this was not to the delight of anyone but UAE Team Emirates. Adam Yates snuck in the move which saw plenty GC teams, mainly Team Visma | Lease a Bike, to go all-out in the chase. Ultimately with the gap being so small, many teams worked to bring back the group, ending the chances of almost two dozen riders that were certain they were going to fight for the stage win.

"It wasn't planned that I would go in the breakaway, but Steven de Jongh (Lidl-Trek's DS, ed.) told us that it would certainly come out on the pedals and I was added to the team's plan," Lidl-Trek's Julien Bernard shared with Cyclism'Actu. The Frenchman was in the head of the race in the 21-rider attack, and then again was part of the lead when Magnus Cort Nielsen attacked with 90 kilometers to go.

"I thought I had done the hardest part honestly... I don't even know what to say. I'm disgusted," he stated after how hard the peloton rode to catch his group. "I'm not going to complain and do my Calimero, but it's a shame because it's a lot of energy wasted for not much in the end. I really believed in it and I didn't understand what happened".

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He particularly blames Yates' presence in the group for it's failure and was particularly angry at the British rider for resfusing to sit up, which would allow the breakaway to fight for the win and help calm down the race. "I told Adam Yates fifteen times to sit up and he said no because his team wanted him to continue," he added.

"I understand that UAE Team Emirates wants to tire out Visma | Lease a Bike in view of the next few days, but I don't understand Visma killing its team all day long when there is a mountain stage tomorrow (stage 14, ed.). Afterwards, I heard that Cofidis was riding, that Decathlon AG2R was riding... it's complicated, it's hard," he concluded.

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