AGEN, France (Reuters) -Jasper Philipsen of Alpecin-Deceuninck won Friday’s stage 13 of the Tour de France, a 165km flat ride from Agen to Pau, pipping Wout Van Aert to the line in a crash-marred sprint finale to win his second stage in four days.
Visma-Lease a Bike’s Van Aert had looked set for victory when he was led out by his teammate but Philipsen picked the right moment to attack and overtook his Belgian compatriot who also finished second in Thursday’s stage 12.
“We are already with two stage wins, so it’s not a bad Tour. We always want more, but we just have to go day by day and enjoy the victory today,” said Philipsen, who won four stages last year.
“Wout was piloted perfectly by Christophe Laporte. I was on the wheel but I had to launch early so I could pass him. So I’m really happy with my sprint and with the feeling.
“This was my best feeling so far in the Tour de France, we didn’t have the best start… Some bad luck, but I’m happy we could turn it around.”
Another Belgian sprinter, Arnaud De Lie, was also in the running but he saw his hopes of a sprint victory evaporate when he was involved in a crash in the final kilometre where several riders hit the deck.
Pascal Ackerman was third while Biniam Girmay, who has won three stages so far, was fourth.
Pogacar, meanwhile, retained the yellow jersey and the UAE Team Emirates rider stays one minute and six seconds ahead of Remco Evenepoel while Jonas Vingegaard is a further eight seconds behind.
Pogacar is looking to become the first rider in 26 years to achieve the Giro d’Italia and Tour double.
His fellow Slovenian Primoz Roglic was sixth in the standings ahead of stage 13 but was forced to abandon the race following a crash on Thursday.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Christian Radnedge)
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