Jonas Vingegaard wins the Tour de France as Jasper Philipsen doubles up in Paris
Jonas Vingegaard wins the Tour de France as Jasper Philipsen doubles up in Paris
The final stage of the Tour de France was won by Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), the only sprinter to take more than one stage at this year’s race.
Behind the bunch, all five remaining Jumbo-Visma riders approached the line side by side to celebrate Jonas Vingegaard’s overall victory at the fastest Tour de France ever.
There was the usual procession to get stage 21 underway. After a long neutral section, Tadej Pogačar, Wout van Aert and Jonas Vingegaard led the race over kilometre zero, and, unable to resist, the green and white jerseys put in a pseudo-attack and a turn of pace that put Vingegaard under a little light-hearted pressure. But it was all in good nature, and the peloton settled in for a couple of hours of leisurely riding, and the obligatory photo opportunities.
As is tradition, Jumbo-Visma took the lead as the peloton entered the finishing laps, Vingegaard bathed in late afternoon sunlight and the adoration from Danish fans lining the Champs-Élysées in their droves.
The attacks came just after the first passage of the finish line, with about 55 kilometres left of the 2022 Tour. Several of the most active breakaway riders of the race took their curtain call in the opening laps, but the most convincing move was composed of five riders from three teams, Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) alone with Groupama-FDJ’s Antoine Duchesne and Olivier Le Gac, and EF Education-EasyPost’s Jonas Rutsch and Owain Doull.
The break is never allowed much breathing room on the Paris laps and Lotto Soudal was determined to keep them pegged, hoping to set up a first stage win for Caleb Ewan. With Lotto Soudal were BikeExchange-Jayco and Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl, whose sprinters were looking for a second stage victory – no sprinter had taken more than one victory at this Tour.
The five-rider breakaway was steadily whittled down in the last 20 km, until the surviving duo, the two Germans, were re-absorbed with 9 km to go. Never far from the action or drama, Tadej Pogačar offered his last hurrah as the bell rang for the final lap, reacting as Geraint Thomas and Filippo Ganna attacked on the other side of the road. Ganna and the white jersey got a small gap, but not even Pogačar could break the hearts of the bunch.
A scrappy final three kilometres left the sprinters scrambling for teammates, and Dylan Groenewegen was forced to put the pedal down from a long way out. In the end, no one could match the pace of Jasper Philipsen who surged up the far side to take a second stage win. Groenewegen held on for second, and Alexander Kristoff came through a bit of a tussle with Caleb Ewan to take third.
Tour de France (2.UWT) Paris La Défense → Paris (Champs-Élysées)
VINGEGAARD Jonas
VAN AERT Wout
VINGEGAARD Jonas
POGAČAR Tadej
INEOS Grenadiers