Jasper Philipsen Thought He Won Stage 4 of the Tour... But He Didn't

While he isn't the first to celebrate a win that actually wasn't a win, Team Alpecin-Deceuninck's Jasper Philipsen's celebration in the sprint finish of Stage 4 in the Tour de France is pretty darn awkward. In fact, Wout Van Aert had won the stage with a late in the race solo breakaway that went unnoticed by Philipsen—a fact that Van Aert's teammate Christophe Laporte is trying to warn Philipsen about in this cringe-worthy image that came right after Philipsen's celebratory initial post-up:

Van Aert is likely overjoyed with this turn of events, taking the win after three second places in earlier stages. That said, he certainly would have plenty of sympathy for Philipsen, considering just last month, Van Aert was caught out doing an early post-up to celebrate a win at Dauphine, only to get nipped at the line in a sprint.

And Philipsen isn't the first to make this exact mistake in front of such a large audience: Last year in the Tokyo Olympics, Annemiek Van Vleuten celebrated what she thought was a win, not realizing there had been another rider—Anna Kiesenhofer—who soloed to the win.

Philipsen has been having a solid Tour thus far though, finishing third in Stage 3 and now second in Stage 4. And while the blunder at the line may keep him up at night as he reflects on it, it won't make a difference to his standings. He didn't lose any time in the race, just a bit of dignity.

Philipsen was able to joke about it afterwards on Twitter:

You Might Also Like

• The 26 Best Cycling Movies of All Time

• The Benno Ballooner 8i Is a Comfortable and Sporty Urban Treat

• 7 Things You Should Do After Every Rainy Ride