Tour de France 2023 stage 7 LIVE: Result and winner as Jasper Philipsen pips Mark Cavendish in Bordeaux
The Astana rider will be among the contenders as the peloton heads for Bordeaux
Jasper Philipsen won a dramatic sprint in the final metres of stage 7 of the Tour de France as he edged past Mark Cavendish in Bordeaux to stop the Brit earning a record breaking 35th stage win on Tour.
A long, flat stage left many riders in contention as Simon Guglielmi headed off on his own in a breakaway and never looked comfortable in that role.
For most of the day the general classification teams, including Jonas Vingegaard’s Jumbo Visma, took the time to rest up after a brutal few days in the mountains.
When the peloton finally hit Bordeaux the sprinters burst into action with Philipsen taking on an early attack 800 metres from the line. He left Caleb Ewan behind only for Cavendish to make a move on the outside and get the lead with 100m to go. Philipsen, however, was too savvy. He dropped onto Cavendish’s wheel and swept past the 38-year-old in the final few metres to win the stage and leave the Brit slumped over the handlebars is heartbreak.
Relive all the action from stage seven below:
Tour de France stage 7
3km to go: Jasper Philipsen, Mark Cavendish, Caleb Ewan and Fabio Jakobsen are all well placed. Pierre Latour is caught and reigned as they fly around the hairpin.
Inside three kilometres.
Tour de France stage 7
5km to go: Pierre Latour is now out front on his own with five kilometres to go. There’s no way he can keep going long enough to get to the finish as his lead is only six seconds.
The calls will be coming through for the sprinters to move up.
Tour de France stage 7
7km to go: The sun is shining and sparkling over the river as the riders drive towards Bordeaux. A tight squeeze to get past a roundabout sees Jumbo-Visma and Ineos Grenadiers move towards the front of the peloton.
The peloton is starting to spread out. Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar are wheel to wheel. The gap to the two front men is now just 12 seconds.
Tour de France stage 7
10 km to go: Inside the final 10k and this is where the stage starts to get very exciting. Peters and Latour are just waiting to get hooked back into the peloton as the different teams continue to position.
They want to get themselves up near the front in order to have the best place to release their sprinters to the line.
Tour de France stage 7
12km to go: Caleb Ewan and Mark Cavendish are riding close together near the front of the peloton. It’s going to be quite narrow when they hit the city and get ready for the sprint.
Peters and Latour now only lead by 34 seconds.
Tour de France stage 7
15km to go: Dylan Groenewegen is one to watch closely in today’s finale and he’s well in with a chance of taking the stage win.
“Everybody is a bit tired, so normally there’s a bit more space, and that’s what I like. But there are really good sprinters here. The first two sprints didn’t go very well, but the shape is still there and now it’s time to show it.
“I think so. He [Jasper Philipsen] is really fast and his whole team is really strong, but we are here to beat him. And let’s try it again today.”
Tour de France stage 7
18km to go: Now then. The peloton has been putting in the work to close the gap on Alex Peters and Pierre Latour. It’s down to 41 seconds as the riders approach the run in to Bordeaux.
Tour de France stage 7
20km to go: It’s been 13 years since the last finish in Bordeaux, that’s the second-longest drought after the 1911- 1924 period, which includes the 1915-1918 forced pause due to World War I.
The last French win in Bordeaux occurred in 1996: Frédéric Moncassin took his last Tour win here from Erik Zabel and Fabio Baldato.
Tour de France stage 7
25km to go: The gap to the two leaders is 1min 11sec and that is a very impressive ride from Latour and Peters who are making the sprinters’ teams toil to catch up.
There’s still time for the potential stage winners to take on fluids and set themselves up to tackle the sprint at the end.
Tour de France stage 7
30km to go: Jasper Philipsen is looking for his third win in a row in bunch sprints on this Tour.
In this century only two riders won the first two sprints and nothing else during a Tour: Tom Steels in 2000 and Tom Boonen in 2005.
Philipsen seems to be the man to beat this afternoon.
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