Jasper Philipsen abandons Tour de France after intermediate sprint crash
The Belgian was treated at the roadside by medical staff and abandoned the race immediately
Jasper Philipsen has been forced to abandon the Tour de France after a heavy crash at the intermediate sprint on stage 3.
The incident, which happened with 60km remaining, saw the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider catapulted over the handlebars and land on his shoulder and back. Race medical staff were quick to treat the Belgian, whose green skinsuit was torn to pieces.
Philipsen was wearing the green jersey after winning the opening stage on Saturday when he was awarded both that jersey and the overall leader’s yellow one. He ceded the overall lead to team mate Mathieu van der Poel after stage two in Boulogne-sur-Mer.
The incident will doubtless leave the team with a sour taste after a successful opening two stages.
After the incident one of Philipsen’s Alpecin-Deceuninck team mates was seen remonstrating with Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) who bumped the stage 1 winner in the lead up to the sprint line, knocking him of his bike. The Frenchman, however, was not entirely to blame for the incident.
The lead up to sprint had been fairly straightforward, but as the line approached there was a coming together between riders. Coquard and Laurenz Rex (Intermarché-Wanty) came together as the sprint approached, with Coquard bouncing off Rex and accidentally veering into Philipsen.
