Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) claimed his third victory at this year's Tour de France, cruising ahead of Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) and Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X) in Nîmes on stage 16.
Despite a frustrating start to the race, winless in the first nine stages, the Belgian began the third week as he finished the second, with his arms in his air, celebrating at 70km/h.
The victory meant Philipsen is now back in the running for the green jersey. Its wearer, Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty), was unable to contest the bunch sprint after crashing inside 2km to go. He crossed the line minutes later, wheeled softly by his teammates.
The day was a poignant one for Mark Cavendish (Astana-Qazaqstan), record-breaker on stage five, who contested his final sprint finish at the Tour. The Brit placed 17th on the day, in the same city he won his fourth stage on his race debut in 2008.
The top three on the general classification went unchanged on stage 16, with Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) still leading Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) by three minutes and nine seconds.
How it happened
Stage 16 brought the eighth and final opportunity for the fastmen at this year's Tour de France, offering them a straightforward course along the Mediterranean Coast, between Gruissan and Nîmes.
Keen to protect their sprinters' last chance at glory, teams were cautious about letting a breakaway go after the flag drop. Alpecin-Deceuninck policed moves from the front of the peloton, controlling the bunch for Philipsen, who set out to draw level with Girmay on three stage wins apiece in this edition of the race.
The first flash of excitement came at the halfway point, with 92km to go, when an intermediate sprint provided a dress rehearsal for the finale. Set up by Alpecin-Deceuninck, the dash was won unexpectedly by Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), a man still in search of his first Grand Tour stage win. Philipsen crossed the line second, and in doing so, clawed back minor green jersey points on Girmay, who placed fourth.
TotalEnergies rider Thomas Gachignard then used the momentary lull after the sprint to launch a solo move. He nudged out his advantage to over two minutes, but, alone in 35-degree heat, and with a slight headwind, the Frenchman's attack never looked like it would last. He was caught with 25km to go, after 65km out front, and received the day's combativity prize for his effort.
Attention swiftly turned to the run-in to Nîmes, and a succession of roundabouts the bunch would have to navigate. Inside 2km to go, it was on one of them that Girmay hit the floor, ruling out his pop at a fourth stage win.
Uno-X led under the flamme rouge, before Alpecin-Deceuninck bustled their way to the front of the pack. With 400m to go, Mathieu van der Poel, the world champion, stretched out the peloton with his final lead-out dig, clearing space for Philipsen to lash away from his sprint rivals and cross the line first.
The race returns to the mountains on Wednesday, with a summit finish to SuperDévoluy, a ski resort in the Alps.
Results
Tour de france 2024, stage 16: Gruissan > Nîmes (188.6km)
1. Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Alpecin-Deceuninck, in 4:11:27
2. Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain-Victorious
3. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Uno-X Mobility
4. Sam Bennett (Irl) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
5. Wout van Aert (Bel) Visma-Lease a Bike
6. Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Israel-Premier Tech
7. Bryan Coquard (Fra) Cofidis
8. Søren Wærenskjold (Nor) Uno-X Mobility
9. Ryan Gibbons (Zaf) Lidl-Trek
10. Danny van Poppel (Ned) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, all at same time
General classification after stage 16
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates, in 67:35:56
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +3:09
3. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, +5:19
4. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates, +10:54
5. Mikel Landa (Esp) Soudal-Quick Step, +11:21
6. Carlos Rodríguez (Esp) Ineos Grenadiers, +11:27
7. Adam Yates (GBr) UAE Team Emirates, +13:38
8. Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Lidl-Trek, +15:48
9. Derek Gee (Can) Israel-Premier Tech, +16:12
10. Santiago Buitrago (Col) Bahrain Victorious, +16:32
