[Last July, Jasper Philipsen finished third behind Mark Cavendish in a stage finish at the Tour de France in Carcassonne. But it was the rider from Alpecin-Desseuninck who raised his arm on the Boulevard de Varsovie this summer. [After passing the final corner in around sixth place, he timed his final acceleration to perfection behind stage 13 winner Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo).

All-rounder Wout Van Aert (Jumbo Visma) passed Pedersen to the right, while Philipsen passed him to the left.

The 24-year-old has already hit the bar at least three times in this year's race, finishing fifth, third, and second. That gave Philipsen "a great sense of relief" to finally take a stage win in Carcassonne in a Tour de France where sprinting opportunities are rare. Especially since he had six near-misses in last year's Tour de France.

This stage was a change from the 10 consecutive days of mountain stages, which offered few opportunities for the flatland riders.

"In this Tour, we [sprinters] waited a long time," added Philipsen.

"Many of the stages in the Alps didn't produce results for the teams. But everyone took every chance and worked hard for the sprint on Friday [stage 13].

"We worked really hard again today and it finally paid off. I think this shows how strong the team is and how dedicated everyone is to winning," he concluded.

In the first week's stage up to Calais, Philipsen thought he had won, and he let out a victory yell.

"It was a good chance, but Wout made a different decision.

As for how he handled the lack of chances and many near-misses, he said he kept his motivation high by believing that "new opportunities will come."

"If there had been no sprints left, every mountain would have been more mentally demanding. But you have to keep fighting for these opportunities. It's not easy to look forward for such a long time, but today showed that it's worth it.

Philipsen admitted that the last kilometer and the technical corners were "pretty important," but added that "the fact that Mark Cavendish is not here also plays a part." 2020 Vuelta a España, in rain and freezing cold, 230 km As he did at the Vuelta a España in 2020, when he took his first Grand Tour stage win after a 230-km marathon in the rain and freezing cold.

"I try to ride easy on stages where I don't have a chance, and I really have to ride easy to get through stages like today, so the last week was probably pretty tough.

"But tonight I'll have a small celebration with the team. The pressure is off and all the staff are working very hard to keep us in the best condition possible. It wasn't easy when Mathieu [van der Pol, teammate, editor's note:] retired in the Alps. 27]

"So it wasn't an easy tool for us, but today proved the strength of the team and what we kept believing in."

For Philipsen, who has already won three group sprints at the Vuelta a España, finally taking his first Tour victory at age 24 represents a breakthrough and a step up, he said.

"This is definitely the biggest win of my career. The Tour de France is the best race to win in a sprint. So I'm really happy to win the pinnacle race. But I will always remember this day."

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