Mark Cavendish looked like he was about to win stage 7 of the Tour de France today - and so break the all-time stage winner's record - until Jasper Philipsen pulled the trigger after a clever, if sketchy, final sprint where patience really paid off for the canny Belgian.
While Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) waited and waited behind his deluxe lead-out man, Mathieu van der Poel, Cavendish surged forward and went into a clear lead as the line approached. However, Philipsen then put in his final kick, coming off Van der Poel's wheel and getting in behind Cavendish for a moment.
Having benefited from the draft of Cavendish, Philipsen went again; his patience paying off as he passed Cavendish (Astana), as he tied up, to claim another stage victory.
Philipsen was collecting his third stage win of this Tour into Bordeaux today, where Cavendish won the last time the Tour finished in the city back in 2010. However, while Cavendish now has 34 stage wins - equal with Eddy Merckx - and is chasing one more to take the record outright, he will have to wait for another day after having to settle for 2nd place today.
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The British rider looked back anxiously in the sprint, as he thought he was going to win, only to see Philipsen charging after him. Cavendish then shook his head in frustration as he crossed the line. However, he has now shown he has the legs to win before this race is over and take the record.
Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) was 3rd today and looks like he is getting better through this race. He was once again bumped around very easily in the battle for the right wheel just before the final sprint began after 169.6km of racing.
However, as Girmay was on Cavendish's wheel in the sprint, Philipsen appeared to veer to his right significantly, bumping Girmay off the wheel and taking his place behind the British rider. That move by Philipsen very nearly put Girmay into the roadside barriers to his right and follows just a few days after a similar move against Wout van Aert (Jumbo Visma) at the end of stage 3.
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Bora-hansgrohe made most of the running just before the sprinters' put in their final kicks, with Danny van Poppel on the front and churning out a great lead-out. However, his sprinter Jordi Meeus had lost his wheel and when Van Poppel pulled over, it was Van der Poel behind him.
While Van der Poel's lead-outs have been incredible, he ran out of gas a little early today. And rather than pull the trigger the moment Van der Poel faded, Philipsen waited for a moment and saw Cavendish sprinting through on the other side of the road with Girmay on his wheel.
Philipsen simply jumped across the road onto the back of Cavendish - whose gears were playing up. Philipsen then got into the British rider's slip stream and almost caused Girmay to crash as a result. But once on Cavendish's wheel, Philipsen used him as a lead-out for a moment before kicking again to win.
More to come.
