Jasper Philipsen took the third stage win of the 2023 Tour de France on Friday afternoon along the Garonne River in Bordeaux.

The Belgian and his Alpecin-Desseuninck team were nervously waiting to see if Philipsen would be demoted after a delicate finish to stage 3. Three days earlier, on stage 4, in Nogaro, Danny van Poppel had taken Fabio Jacobsen's late race trouble, accusing him of inadvertently causing a crash. His lead-out man, Mathieu van der Pol, was also later demoted for pushing Biniam Guillemay.

In the final meters of Friday's seventh stage to Bordeaux, Philipsen crossed the road and jumped on Mark Cavendish's wheel.

In doing so, he squeezed Biniam Girmay toward the barrier and appeared to have interfered with his sprint, but despite protests by Astana Kazakstan and Intermarché Circus Wanty, his victory was later approved by the UCI Commission.

Alexander Vinokurov, boss of Cavendish's Astana team, filed a complaint along with Intermarche boss Jean-François Broulard. Interviewed by Sporza after the stage, Vinokourov asked, "Does a rider who moves in a sprint have to crash to be penalized?

"The video clearly shows that Philipsen changed direction from left to right," Vinokourov said. 'According to the rules, the sprint must go straight. He blocked three riders: Dylan Groenewegen, Jordi Meeus, and Biniam Girmay."

"If Gilmey didn't brake, he would end up in the fence. Someone has to fall over to get declassified." He could have won off Mark's wheels.

After the stage, Cavendish said that Philipsen "never got in my way.

"Anyway, there might be a few teams protesting against Philipsen today. 'But he didn't obstruct me, so there's nothing wrong with that. He just came from left to right."

Gilmey told reporters at doping control after the stage that "nothing happened," but his team boss, Burrato, took a different view, saying that dozens of riders could have fallen had his star not braked to avoid a collision with Philipsen and Barria He said that dozens of riders could have fallen.

"Jasper won for the third time, but made his third mistake. 'Vinium got caught on the fence again and had to brake. If he doesn't, 50 riders will end up on the ground."

"I blame the UCI for prevention. We are also waiting for someone to punish riders for risking their lives. I don't think that's normal."

"Jasper turns right in the middle of the road in a flash. If that is not punished. According to the commissaire, no mistake was made."

The protest against Philipsen's move in the final dash and the subsequent dismissal of the protest were not the only safety-related stories in the tedious day of racing through the Dordogne.

The tricky course to Bordeaux brought its own set of challenges, including a sharp turn at the Garonne River crossing in the last 4 km, a dip in the road surface immediately afterwards, a chicane, and a narrow road width in the last 2 km.

These difficulties led to a change in the 3km rule, and the CPA riders' union announced before the stage that GC times would be measured 600m earlier than usual

. Speaking to Cycling News after the stage, Mike Tunissen of Intermarché Circus Wanty said he was glad the decision was made, although he said that ideally the rules should be flexible depending on the situation.

"I think this is a good example that we should not stick to the 3km rule," the Dutch rider said. 'Now we had narrowed the maximum just before and I think it's good to do it this way.' I'm already nervous, and now that there are 10 more GC teams, I'm even more nervous.

Race leader Jonas Vingegaard was another rider in favor of the change. He and his yellow jersey rivals were able to relax a bit more in the final while the sprinters got the job done up front.

"It was very hectic at the end today. I think all the GC riders were happy with the 3km extra rule today."

"Before that corner we were told that the 3km rule was here. I think we were much safer today than we would have been otherwise."