'Everything played out our way' - Philipsen hails Van der Poel's dramatic Champs-Élysées triumph

Mathieu van der Poel had attacked alongside Tour winner Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) on the final ascent of Montmartre before holding off a fast-closing peloton, needing a bike lunge to secure victory. 

Philipsen won the bunch sprint ahead of Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) to secure second place and cap a memorable day for the team.

"It was a fantastic race, super exciting. It's a fantastic victory for Mathieu,” Philipsen said post-stage. "It was a stage Mathieu was really keen to win. To pull it off like this is wonderful."

The peloton looked to be swarming in on Pogačar and van der Poel on the home straight, but the Dutchman dug deep to find extra resources. 

Philipsen also explained his tricky approach in the sprint behind his teammate, with Mads Pedersen launching an early effort in an attempt to overhaul the race leader.

"Mads [Pedersen] went early and he wanted to overtake Mathieu [van der Poel], and I just had to make sure he couldn't take the win, that Mathieu could hold, or either I surpass him in the final."

Although the gap to the leaders rapidly disappeared in the closing kilometres, Philipsen admitted the speeds were so high that there was little opportunity to judge whether Van der Poel would survive.

"I also couldn't look back, as the speed was incredibly high, and I also thought that nobody would come from the back, that everyone was on their limit."

Van der Poel ultimately held on to claim one of the most dramatic victories of his career before Philipsen crossed the line to complete the perfect one-two finish, capping a Tour in which Philipsen claimed one stage and Van der Poel two.

"The final metres were so fast, but yeah, everything just managed to play out our way, and that was incredible."