What’s sports without a bit of verbal sparring? Wout van Aert has had a few near misses in the first three days of the Tour. On Stage 2, Frenchman Victor Lafay launched in the final kilometer, taking a brilliant win. WvA finished second and was clearly disappointed. After the race, Tadej Pogačar did a hilarious impression of the Jumbo-Visma rider’s angry gesture after the finish. He even told Adam Yates that the Belgian was acting “like a child.”
Watch Tadej Pogačar sass Wout van Aert hard after Stage 2 of the Tour de France
On Stage 3, Jasper Philipsen won the first bunch sprint of the 2023 Tour de France in dramatic fashion. The finish was curved, and as he followed the roadway, it seemed as if he cut van Aert off. But upon closer review, the race jury believed he didn’t deviate from his line, and it was a fair finish.
Jasper Philipsen strikes in first bunch sprint of 2023 Tour de France
Although it was pretty tight, van Aert chose not to take a big risk squeezing through the barriers and sat up, finishing fifth. He said that Philipsen should be happy he was there, not someone else. Van Aert also said the nature of the finale created risky conditions.
“Jasper should be happy that I was sitting there next to him yesterday because if it had been a sprinter like Sagan, he would undoubtedly have had a pounding,” he said to Sporza. “I chose not to take any more risks. It’s weird that that finish was approved; we all agree on that.”
However, the 2022 green jersey winner still says that Philipsen’s sprint was not ideal.
“Jasper sprints to the right because it’s the shortest way, but when he feels me, he deviates a little more,” he added. “It was debatable, but especially the finish itself was debatable. That’s probably why the jury didn’t do anything. The regulations say that the last 200 meters had to be straight, but that was not observed here.”
When it comes to Pog’s cheeky behavior after Stage 2, van Aert said there’s plenty of racing to come and shrugged off the Slovenian’s words.
“I’ll answer with the pedals,” he said.
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