Jasper Philipsen, the Belgian sprinter from Alpecin-Deceuninck, achieved a remarkable victory in stage 16 of the 2024 Tour de France, which took place from Gruissan to Nîmes. This win marks his third stage victory in this year’s race and his ninth career stage win at the Tour. The stage was characterized by a relatively flat profile, making it an ideal opportunity for sprinters to showcase their speed.
Philipsen’s success can be attributed to an exceptional lead-out from his teammate, Mathieu van der Poel, who is also the reigning world road race champion. Van der Poel executed a perfect strategy in the final kilometers, positioning Philipsen optimally for the sprint finish. As they approached the final stretch, Philipsen demonstrated his explosive power and speed, comfortably outpacing competitors such as Phil Bauhaus and Alexander Kristoff to secure the win.
However, the race was not without drama. Biniam Girmay, who leads the points classification and was a strong contender for this stage, crashed with just 1.5 kilometers remaining. Despite sustaining injuries and showing visible signs of pain as he crossed the finish line, Girmay managed to complete the race but did not score any points in this stage. This incident significantly impacted his lead in the points classification; after this stage, Philipsen narrowed the gap to just 32 points behind Girmay.
Philipsen expressed concern for Girmay following his crash and acknowledged that while he would continue to fight for points in upcoming stages, he hoped Girmay would recover quickly since he did not deserve to lose due to such misfortune. With only five stages left in the Tour and tougher mountainous terrain ahead, both riders will face significant challenges as they vie for the green jersey.
The general classification remained unchanged after this stage; Tadej Pogačar retained his overall lead with a substantial margin over defending champion Jonas Vingegaard.