Bordeaux, France's wine capital, has produced some of the greatest sprinters in the history of the Tour de France. Van Rooij, Darrigade, Maertens, Abdujaparov, Zabel, and many others have made their mark in this city.

Thirteen years ago, when the Tour finished in the second most visited city, Mark Cavendish took his 11th career stage win. This Friday, he was looking for his record-breaking 35th win, but the Tour's new great sprinter, Jasper Philipsen, had other ideas.

The 25-year-old Belgian has now won three races in this Tour, pushing Cavendish to second place on the Garonne River, his fifth Tour stage win.

In a post-race interview, Philipsen paid tribute to the man who drove Cavendish to second place.

"When I saw him pass me, I thought, 'No way I'm going to win my 35th stage,'" he said. ' Still, I was happy to pass him. I was happy to fight with him for the win. I think he is the best sprinter ever."

"This morning I watched the video from 2010 when Mark won here. 'It looks like it's been years and it's crazy that I'm still racing and competing with him for the win. It's amazing to be able to fight for my 35th stage win in the Tour and compete at the highest level. It's inspiring and my hat is off to him. I don't think anyone can do that anymore."

Philipsen's third win came when team leader Mathieu Van der Pol pulled well clear of the leaders with 900 meters to go and then dropped him with 200 meters to go.

As Cavendish jumped up the right side of the road and into the wind, Philipsen looked to the side and moved toward the Manxmen, pushing Biniam Girmay toward the barrier.

Alexander Vinokurov, boss of Cavendish's Astana team, and Jean-François Broulard of Intermarché Circus Wanty, boss of third-place Biniam Girmay, protested to the commissaire, but Philipsen's victory was quickly confirmed and therefore had no effect.

With four more sprint stages to come until the end of the Tour, Philipsen is the leading contender for another victory and the green jersey (with an 88-point lead). Despite this success, however, when asked if he is the best sprinter in the event, he was modest.

"It's really hard to say," he said. I think I have the best lead-out train. I think that's for sure."

"A big part of our success is how we work together and the fact that Mathieu Van Der Pol is the last one there. We have to keep working towards Paris, but we still have a long way to go."

He also has no idea how many wins he will eventually rack up in the Tour. Philipsen has only been sprinting for a number of years and is only in his third Tour. Despite his promise for this Tour and beyond, he does not mention where he stands in the Tour de France sprinters' standings.

"It's still a long way off. It's still a long way off. The Tour is still two weeks away. I can still aim for other stage wins, but I want to take it one day at a time.

"Even if I think about 12 wins now, or more, it's still a long way to go. I just want to do my best and we have a great team to achieve great things. So far, it's going well."