Philipson resumes green jersey race

The race for the Tour de France green jersey resumed on Tuesday’s 16th stage, with Jasper Philipsen taking his third victory and Biniam Girmay going down in Nimes lizard fever.

This day, running at the pace of the Senator, turned into a general nap, until the last 25 kilometers suddenly woke up, when the main car set off, suddenly angry as if stepping on a hornet’s nest, at the crossroads of the village full of traps. In the form of roundabouts and directional islands.

First, there were shocking scenes when two cars from the Uno-X team collided at almost full speed while trying to catch up to mechanical accident victim Johannes Kulset.

But especially as the red flames approached, when the wearer of the green jersey, Biniam Girmay, collapsed to the ground accompanied by two EF Education First runners, the day certainly woke the dead.

The Eritrean, who has won three stages since starting in Florence, was battered on his right flank and had a serious elbow injury, and he took some time before crossing the line, surrounded by two teammates from Intermarche.

“I fell and my knee is a little swollen. I was also hit in the shoulder and had two stitches.”he announced after stepping down from the dais, limping slightly.

“When you fall, you’re usually fine, but the next day you’re really hurt. But I don’t think this will be a problem.”” the Eritrean added, his smile surprising.

The situation is still complicated

In his absence, Jasper Philipsen, rejuvenated after a complicated start to the Tour, quickly overtook the other sprinters to finish ahead of German Phil Bauhaus and Norwegian Alexander Kristoff, who took the honours.

British veteran Mark Cavendish increased his record for stage wins to 35 in his final Tour de France, which was only 17th.

“The Tour de France victory was hard-earned. So the three points is a very good result.”commented the Belgian, who topped the standings last year.

After tying for the win with Gilme, the leading male from Alpecín still has a chance to take home the green jersey again this year.

“Everything is possible but it’s still complicated. I just hope he (Grimme) does well and tomorrow he can recover and fight for the green jersey because he had a very good Tour de France.Fair play, he commented.

Specifically, Philippson reduced his deficit to the Eritrean to 32 points at the end of the final stage, which he promised the sprinter.

If we assume that the two have no chance to shine on one of the five remaining stages, all of which are difficult, they only have the intermediate sprint to decide.

Now? Suffer

There are 4 left, and the first place winner will be allocated 20 points each, the second place winner will be allocated 17 points, the third place winner will be allocated 15 points, and so on.

Ultimately, everything should come down to whether Gilmes is able to recover sufficiently to tackle the daunting stages ahead for the peloton in the Alps.

Because on Sunday we’re going to Nice for the final stage of the Tour de France and leave with the green jersey on our shoulders.

When world champion Mathieu van der Poel (Philipsen’s luxury pilot fish) was asked what his Alpecin team still had to work on in this Tour de France, he didn’t hesitate: “suffer”.

Faced with the nightmare that awaits them, some sprinters may want to go home before seeing Nice, the unprecedented finale of the Tour de France instead of the traditional Champs-Elysees due to the Paris Olympics.

“It’s a bit of a shame for the sprinters that there won’t be a sprint at the end of the Tour de France. I hope that after today most people won’t give up.”sympathizes with Tadej Pogacar, who had a very peaceful day.

The yellow jersey leader, who still leads Jonas Vengergaard by 3:09 and Remco Evernepoel by 5:19, finished the stage in a hilarious mock sprint in front of teammate Nils Polit, including throwing his bike away.