Stage 16 of the 2024 Tour de France was won brilliantly by Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) in Nimes, outpacing his rivals to the line with a powerful acceleration, perfectly set up by his World Champion teammate Mathieu van der Poel. A crash for the man in the green jersey, Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty), with 1.5km to go unfortunately meant he was not there to contest the final sprint. An exciting bunch sprint resulted in Philipsen crossing the line ahead of Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) and Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X) for his third win of this year’s Tour. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) celebrated his 100th day of Tour de France racing by securing the Yellow Jersey for the 35th time in his career, with no changes at the top of the GC on the first day back on the road after Monday’s rest day. Behind Pogacar in the overall standings, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) remain respectively 3'09” and 5'19” adrift of the Slovenian star.
Back in action
Following the news yesterday that Maxim Van Gils (Lotto Dstny) and then this morning Chris Harper (Team Jayco AlUla) had withdrawn from the Tour due to Covid-19 symptoms, there were 150 riders at the start line for Stage 16. Stefan Kung (Groupama-FDJ) then Sandy Dujardin (TotalEnergies) left the peloton in the first kilometre but sat up when they realised that there were no further volunteers to accompany them in the breakaway. The race therefore progressed at a moderate pace during the first hour with 37.9 kilometres covered, before the average speed significantly increased in the second hour of racing (with 44.8 km covered). At the Matelettes intermediate sprint (km 96.1) Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) got to the line first, while Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) was second, with Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty) fourth.
Gachignard goes solo
After the intermediate sprint Thomas Gachignard (TotalEnergies) went solo, leaving the peloton and building a 2’20” advantage by the time he reached the top of the only categorised climb of the stage at Côte de Fambetou (Cat 4, km 112.6). The peloton did not look overly concerned about Gachignard’s breakaway efforts at any point with Jayco-AlUla collaborating with Alpecin-Deceuninck at the front of the bunch to offset any potential threat from the relatively light crosswinds. 25 kilometres from the finish line a peloton led by Groupama-FDJ calmly caught the solo attacker, who was named as the most combative rider of the stage for his efforts.
Another bunch sprint in Nimes
Nimes has hosted several bunch sprint finishes in the past and that was the case again as the peloton flew through the elegant city streets towards the final straight. An unfortunate crash for green jersey Girmay at a roundabout inside the final 2km sadly denied him of the chance to participate in the final sprint which was ultimately won with aplomb by Philipsen ahead of Bauhaus and Kristoff.
