Alpecin praise Tour jury after Philipsen relegation U turn: 'Fair to admit they were wrong'

Alpecin manager Christoph Roodhooft has praised the Tour de France commissaires for reversing their decision to relegate Philipsen following the sprint finish on stage 11 in Nevers.

Philipsen crossed the line in third place behind stage winner Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility) and Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM), securing an encouraging result after a difficult opening phase of the Tour. Soon after the finish, however, the Belgian was moved to 119th place and handed a yellow card following two incidents during the approach to the sprint.

The most visible moment involved contact between Philipsen and a Picnic PostNL lead-out rider as the teams fought for position. The jury initially deemed Philipsen responsible, but Alpecin challenged that interpretation and requested a meeting with the commissaires.

Roodhooft visited the jury vehicle to discuss the footage and understand the reasoning behind the sanction. After reviewing the incidents and hearing the team’s explanation, the commissaires withdrew both the relegation and the yellow card.

“I’m pleased that we were able to discuss it properly and that they decided to remove the relegation and the yellow card,” Roodhooft told Sporza. “That was the right outcome for everyone involved.”

According to Roodhooft, the jury had examined two separate moments. The first came as Philipsen and Biniam Girmay contested Olav Kooij’s wheel. The second involved the contact with the Picnic PostNL train shortly before the sprint opened.

While Philipsen was involved in both situations, Alpecin argued that he had not initiated the movement that caused the collision.

“Jasper was part of the incident, but he was not the direct cause,” Roodhooft said. “Once we explained the full sequence, they decided to leave the result as it was.”

The reversal ensured that Philipsen kept his first podium finish of this year’s Tour, as well as the points he collected towards the green jersey competition. Yet Roodhooft insisted the team’s objection was about more than Philipsen’s position in the classification.

“You have to look at this separately from the battle for green,” he said. “This is important for every sprinter. The original decision was not correct and, after looking at it again, they recognised that.”

Rather than criticising the jury for making the initial call, Roodhooft highlighted their willingness to reopen the discussion.

“It is very fair of them to admit that the first decision was wrong,” he said. “It would have been easy to stick to their original position, but they did not do that.”

Roodhooft described the conversation as constructive and said it was the first time he had personally gone to the commissaires’ vehicle to contest a decision.

“We have never really had these kinds of problems before,” he said. “The discussion was calm, positive and respectful. Hopefully, by explaining our position properly, we also helped the commissaires make the best possible decision.”

For Philipsen, being reinstated in third place provides a timely boost after a frustrating start to the Tour. The Belgian currently sits third in the points classification, 62 points behind green jersey leader Mads Pedersen of Lidl-Trek.