How Alpecin-Deceuninck secured a good position in the sprint finale through cleverness with Vingegaard

It wasn't as easy as it looked, though. In the end, an impressive stint at the front by Søren Kragh Andersen proved crucial, as the Danish rider protected his teammates from the wind. "I think it went perfectly," said Jonas Rickaert, the penultimate rider for Philipsen, to Sporza. "At the crucial point, we were right at the front, thanks to Søren who took another turn."

Rickaert himself thought he was in the lead a bit too early. "At five kilometers from the finish, we were a bit far back, but then I moved up on the right side, where the Jumbo-Visma riders were. You know that they are going to ride full throttle until three kilometers from the finish, so I told Jonas Vingegaard that we would also protect him as well. You have to take advantage of that a bit, of course," the Belgian smiled widely. "Now we can enjoy a glass of Bordeaux wine," he added with satisfaction.

Kragh Andersen mentioned on Eurosport that it wasn't all smooth sailing. "This was the toughest win so far," he concluded. "We had a lot of difficulty finding each other between kilometer thirty and five, but we kept fighting. I constantly tried to come back and eventually succeeded, which allowed me to set up Mathieu van der Poel, Jonas, and Jasper well. I think they delivered another superb lead-out, and I believe we can now say that Jasper is the fastest." Rickaert fully agreed, saying, "I heard he won on one leg, haha!"

Ramon Sinkeldam also gave a brief comment. "Three wins in a row, I think it's clear that Jasper is the fastest. We have a great lead-out with Mathieu, among others, but that's not a guarantee. The Tour is always dangerous and chaotic."