It's been a long time coming, but it's finally here: 17 days into the Tour de France, Jasper Philipsen managed to clinch a much-anticipated 11th Tour stage victory of his career on Wednesday. And even a hardened sprint warrior like the 28-year-old Belgian admitted that the pressure to succeed - with virtually no chances remaining before Paris, either - was beginning to get to him.
To say the expectations were high that Philipsen would at some point take a Tour stage in 2026 is no exaggeration. But in a sense he has only his own almost ridiculously good strike rate in the Tour de France to blame.
