Tour de France: Unchained (2023–…): Season 1, Episode 6 - Episode #1.6 - full transcript
When their leader drops out, Alpecin-Deceuninck hedges their bets on Jasper "Disaster" Philipsen. Will he live up to his nickname or redeem himself?
JULY 5TH 2022
STAGE 4 - ARRIVAL IN CALAIS
Jasper Philipsen
giving everything in this sprint.
Jasper Philipsen moves into the lead.
Philipsen thinks he's won it.
Yeah.
Philipsen celebrates,
thinks he's won the stage.
Why not?
But Wout van Aert was already there.
Wout van Aert wins
the stage with a stunning attack.
What the fuck was that?
I thought I won.
In stage four, I thought I won.
Jasper, he sometimes
lives in his own world.
I'm Jasper Philipsen,
and my nickname is "Jasper Disaster."
We try to work
as a team with him, as good as possible,
and there's no space, uh, for disaster.
TOUR DE FRANCE: UNCHAINED
All right.
All good?
Do I look straight ahead there?
I am Christoph Roodhooft.
Together with my brother, I am the manager
of Alpecin-Deceuninck cycling team.
Oh!
Me and my brother,
we started the team in 2009.
It was, last year,
our first very Tour de France as a team.
So, for us, it was all new.
And Mathieu van der Poel
attacks at full force.
Mathieu winning the stage,
getting the yellow jersey
in the Tour de France,
it's like..."Here we are now."
Mathieu is a big star in cycling.
He has been here
since he was 15 years old.
It's also his team.
It's three of us who created it.
It's been really cool
to see it develop and to be part of it.
But this year I've done
too many races, and it's not ideal.
I didn't really think it through.
Now, the Tour is in three weeks.
TRAINING CAMP
I've never seen a rider who can
really destroy himself like he can.
It's sometimes a bit scary
to see him go all the way.
After the Giro,
his sessions haven't been that good.
I used a lot of energy.
Now the Tour is gonna be really difficult.
We don't have the luxury to choose
from 20 riders to go to Tour de France.
Alpecin-Deceuninck,
ladies and gentlemen
First up,
Dutch superstar Mathieu van der Poel!
Alpecin-Deceuninck
is a small second-division team.
Their goal is to win stages.
And they've pinned all of their hopes
on Mathieu van der Poel.
The countdown has begun.
The second stage of
the Tour de France 2022 is about to start.
Two, one, go!
STAGE 2
Mathieu van der Poel lagging
at the back of the peloton
since the start of the stage
and doesn't seem interested
in fighting for victory.
STAGE 3
Surprising to still see
Van der Poel at the back.
When will he make his mark in the race?
Mathieu van der Poel
crosses the finish line
very, very far behind the favourites.
A very disappointing result.
We had high hopes for Van der Poel today,
but he wasn't there.
I was even worse.
At the moment, I'm a bit of
a shadow of myself, so it's frustrating.
Why do you think that is?
No idea. I wish I could tell you.
But I don't know.
I do think that doing both
Giro and the Tour was too much for him.
And I just think
he hasn't fully recovered.
I think this could become
a very long Tour for Mathieu.
We shaped the team
around Mathieu van der Poel,
but it's clear at a certain point,
the team needs to be strong enough
to continue without Mathieu van der Poel.
It was not how we planned it.
Of course we have other riders.
Jasper, he needs to step up.
It won't be easy.
But, for us, it's crucial.
I'm Jasper Philipsen.
My specialty is, uh, sprint.
LA PLAGNE
THE FRENCH ALPS
TRAINING CAMP
ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK
To complete
a Tour is really hard. Uh...
There will always be some moments
in the Grand Tour that you think,
"Fuck, what am I doing here?"
"What I do... to my body?"
It's just self-suicide attempt
for the body almost.
Okay, so, FTP intervals of six minutes
is for Silvan, for Jasper.
And there is only
two minutes of recovery in between.
As a sprinter, you are struggling
more over the mountains,
and you have to, uh,
survive on those hard days.
Looking forward toward the next sprints,
the next opportunities for yourself.
And keep on fighting.
Keep on putting pressure on the pedals.
Who forgot the lunch packet?
I'll bet on Jasper Philipsen.
No, no. You can take it in the car. Eh?
Jasper Philipsen is
a very friendly, empathetic guy.
- Still good leg day?
- Hup.
Aw!
They call him Jasper Disaster,
but I don't like it.
- The name?
- No.
Do I have shit on my cleats or not?
Yeah?
Things like this happen.
Sometimes I forget some things or... Yeah.
Just some small things
that looks like a disaster.
- Jasper!
- What?
What did I do?
It's always you, huh?
It's not equality in cycling.
You have to do things right.
And it's not okay
that you forget today your helmet,
and tomorrow your socks,
and then the day after, your shoes.
Let's go!
In the last Tour de France,
he finished six times in the top three,
which was... very nice.
But, in the end, there was no victory.
The nicest one to win
is the Champs-Élysées.
In Paris.
It was the last opportunity for a sprint.
And the most beautiful one.
Wout van Aert strikes.
Cavendish gets ready.
Philipsen is there as well.
Who's going to get it?
Photo on the line. Wout van Aert.
The goal was never achieved.
And I just remember, uh,
celebrating the end of the Tour
with a glass of champagne,
uh, with tears in my eyes
from the disappointment.
That was, uh, that was painful.
Jasper has to win stages.
But, the Jasper Disaster thing,
uh, we would like to disappear.
Welcome to the fourth stage
between Dunkirk and Calais.
A lovely day for the sprinters.
You still haven't won? It's never
taken this long in a Grand Tour.
I hope to find my good legs
in the next week,
and have a go at a stage win.
I really think we just have
to bet on Jasper today.
The flat stages are for sprinters.
Jasper is a really strong rider
in my opinion.
The day you have
an opportunity on the sprint,
these are the moments
you try to take with both hands.
Wout, you are solo.
Wout is solo. Wout is solo.
Eighteen seconds
with one kilometre to go
for van Aert, alone in the lead.
Wout van Aert wins
the stage with a stunning attack.
Philipsen celebrates,
thinks he's won the stage.
But Philipsen's going to be second.
What the fuck was that?
What a shame.
I thought I won.
On stage four, I thought I won.
I think he didn't know
that van Aert was up the road.
Oh, careful. Careful!
Wout was really strong.
He was the best today? Or...
Yeah, I think it shows, uh,
it shows how strong
and how incredible that effort was.
That he could, uh, make such a gap,
that's incredible.
Thank you.
- What the fuck is that?
- Come here.
Poor you.
Are you okay?
Oh, darling.
You're okay.
- Did you not hear anything?
- Let me be for a bit.
Yeah?
Should I wait here?
Come with me for a bit.
- On the screens it wasn't even noticeable.
- Luckily.
They're not writing anything about it.
It wasn't even noticeable it happened.
It's really so embarrassing.
- You didn't hear that van Aert was gone?
- No, how was that possible?
It was impossible that someone
would cycle away from there. Alone!
It's really incredible. It's not normal.
That fucking sucks.
They're all gonna laugh at me.
In the Tour, you're only
as good as your last day's racing.
And so far,
the last day's racing isn't that good.
It's been falling to pieces somewhat.
And it's not gonna
get easier from here on in.
And the 11th stage
of the Tour de France has begun.
We're heading
to the highest finish line of the Tour.
A real physical
and mental challenge for the riders.
The reason the mountains matter so much
is 'cause they're so hard.
Coming off the back of a first week
that has been absolutely brutal,
it's here, if you don't have the form,
you're not going to make it through.
11.3 kilometres and 9.5% incline.
I don't need this today.
The peloton is attacking
the first classified climb of the day.
Four minutes.
Damn it.
Another bad day
for Mathieu van der Poel.
He's dropped.
He's lost a lot of power
in the first 20 kilometres.
The riders are
one kilometre from the summit.
Okay, to the summit.
Mathieu van der Poel is two minutes
behind in reaching the summit.
It's a lot of suffering
over the mountains.
It's not easy to be
a cyclist at the highest level,
and people expect you to win every time.
I don't want that pressure in the Tour.
There's a big chance
he's going to step off. Right?
Hello! We're being told
someone is dropping out.
Mathieu van der Poel,
dropping out of the Tour.
- Mathieu has stopped.
- Stopped?
Mathieu van der Poel
really seemed to be struggling.
Nope.
It's already from the beginning
of the Tour that I don't feel like myself,
and it makes no sense to continue if you...
if you can't even follow the last guy.
That's not my place normally, so...
You know, you can do more bad
than good to be honest, so...
Yeah, it makes no sense to continue.
A great day for Jumbo-Visma
with a stage victory for Jonas Vingegaard.
Jasper Philipsen crosses the finish line
36 minutes behind today's winner.
Completely exhausted.
With Mathieu van der Poel dropping out,
it's been a terrible day
for the Alpecin team.
Every day
there are new disappointments.
The disappointment goes together
with some frustration.
When you have lost,
or when there's a disappointment,
then you have to accept, and...
most of the time
it does not stay that long.
Maybe I hope sometimes
that I could be a bit more emotional.
But now we need to move on with the Tour.
At this year's Tour de France,
they need to win a stage.
They kind of have to win a stage.
But without Mathieu van der Poel,
they've got limited options.
And that's not their fault.
They're not one of the biggest teams.
The bigger teams have lots of options.
So they're gonna
have to find another way to win.
But that's an opportunity as well.
For some of those riders,
the younger riders,
this is the opportunity
you've got to grasp.
It's been a tough Tour so far.
I hoped to have had a stage win already.
I was close a few times,
but it didn't happen so far.
Um, but I have a good motivation
to hopefully take my chances
in the last opportunities for us.
Carcassonne will be a crucial day for us.
STAGE 15
It will be
a stifling stage today.
The heat will be
the big factor of the day.
This will be one of
the hottest stages of the Tour.
- How you feeling?
- Uh...
- Warm.
- Warm? It's crazy, huh?
They're forecasting
40 degrees Celsius in the South West.
That's hot!
After all the effort, getting through
a heatwave on top of that is pretty tough.
Does the heat
have a big physical impact on you?
Yes. When your body heat goes
above 37 °C, it can't be good.
In heat like that, you can push two,
three times, at most.
After that, your heart rate just drops.
So you must be careful.
Stage 15 is a transition stage
between the Alps and the Pyrenees.
TEAM MEETING
ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK
We discussed already, a lot, the final.
We will try to achieve a sprint.
And to sprint for victory, of course.
Not like, uh, our friend there, in Calais.
We sprint this time for the victory,
hey, Jasper?
The team, we haven't won
so far in this Tour de France.
So, today is a possible chance,
and... yeah, the pressure is on.
The pressure is on me.
Wout van Aert is on the GC team.
They have higher priorities
than winning stage 15.
They want to win the Tour de France.
I'm just in a team
where we focus for stages.
We go all in for those days.
We go for it.
News about Primož Roglič,
who has decided to drop out of the race
after his fall on the cobblestones.
Yeah, it's really, really unfortunate
he has to go home.
We have the yellow jersey.
We need every help in the world.
I'm confident that the other...
that the other remaining riders,
uh, they can handle it.
But, of course,
it's not a good thing for the team.
Rodez to Carcassonne.
202 kilometres.
Main goal for today, keep the yellow safe.
Stick together. Make sure Jonas
can save as much as possible.
Actually, I'm really motivated
for the stage today.
I understand our tactic, but...
I would really like to try
and jump also in the breakaway.
I always want to be the best.
Ever since I started cycling,
I wanted to win the races
and always want to give 100%.
That's still, uh... That's still in me.
Personally, I also see it as a possibility
to get in front with a strong group.
French across...
Do I have the freedom for that, or...
Yeah, I think, like,
we have to see what happens.
What we just said, it's also important
to really keep Jonas in a good position.
Wout is one of
the biggest riders in the world.
But he's also important
as a helper for our yellow dream.
I don't want to end up again
sprinting for second place.
No, no, no, but the biggest priority,
keep the yellow safe.
Wout van Aert
is one of the superstars
of this generation of cycling.
Those guys, they, uh,
they just can do almost everything.
Those are just superstars
that don't, uh, don't get born every year.
Wout van Aert
is riding exceptionally well.
If he's in the final,
going for the sprint, how do you see that?
Surely, if it will come down to a sprint,
Wout van Aert will also
be there to, uh, try for the win.
So, that's a big rival for today also.
Sébastien, it's Bruno. Can you hear me?
One, two, three. Hello, everybody.
Testing on Radio Tour broadcasting live.
Welcome to the 15th stage
of the Tour de France.
Jonas Vingegaard is still in yellow.
He has a two-minute
and 22-second lead over Tadej Pogačar.
Geraint Thomas is in third place.
The race is about to start.
The race has started!
You can see a fair few sprinters,
already in position at the front.
The Alpecin team is, of course,
going to try to secure
the stage for Jasper Philipsen,
one of the fastest guys in the peloton.
And the green jersey, Wout van Aert,
who may be a real threat today.
He's an all-rounder
and found the mountain stage
less arduous than the other sprinters.
A crash! A crash in the peloton.
A crash in the peloton!
Wout van Aert is down.
And so is Steven Kruijswijk.
The race has stopped.
Fuck!
...the crash.
The green jersey has also stopped.
This may prove
to be a bad day for Jumbo-Visma.
Do you need a bike, Stevie?
Do you need a bike?
Bike?
Race restarts,
it's back on at the front.
And Wout van Aert
is still waiting for his teammate.
When Stevie crashed,
I was, uh, just behind him.
So, uh, I stand still with him
because I saw
he was really in a lot of pain.
The peloton continues,
moving at quite a pace.
I don't think
they've slowed down in the least.
Steven Kruijswijk, one of
the main domestiques of Jonas Vingegaard,
and Wout van Aert leaves him.
I made a call myself. I wanted
to wait with him, but then I realised,
I would be left alone
with no chance of coming back.
Wout van Aert
can't wait for Kruijswijk.
His job isn't to stay behind
but to reclaim his place
in the peloton near the yellow jersey.
Your car must stay with Stevie.
He dislocated his shoulder.
No, we have to go.
I think it looked bad.
Stevie is out of the race, unfortunately.
It's really, really shit.
- Fuck!
- Fucking hell!
Jumbo-Visma has lost
two riders, Roglič and Kruijswijk.
He's coming back.
Behind us.
Wout van Aert
is back in the peloton.
The rest of the Jumbo-Visma team
ahead of him, protecting Jonas Vingegaard.
At the front, Jasper Philipsen
for Alpecin-Deceuninck.
Another 60 kilometres to go.
Refocus. Refocus after
the crash in the bunch.
Watch out through the village.
Also, there are speed bumps
and the traffic furniture. Be careful.
41.7 kilometres
and watch out for the speed bump.
Ah!
What happened to the brakes?
Everyone is a bit nervous.
We lost a very important helper
and rider for the team.
And we don't want this to happen again.
And then five kilometres later,
there was a little bit
of tension in the peloton.
Ah!
A lot of roundabouts
coming in the middle sections.
We came out of a roundabout,
and the peloton was getting back together.
- What?
- Another crash.
- Crash Jonas.
- No!
There's a crash.
The yellow jersey crashed!
Jonas crashed. Jonas crashed.
We have to wait for Jonas.
The yellow jersey has crashed.
Vingegaard has crashed, but...
I'm thinking, "Shit, this was not good."
And maybe this is it.
Maybe I'm out of the Tour de France.
I need a new bike! I need a new bike!
A big problem
for Jonas Vingegaard,
who has to change bikes
and throws his bike on the ground.
It's a terrible half hour for Jumbo-Visma.
Let's go.
The car behind
the lead group, go back to the front.
Okay, yeah.
I think almost everybody
is waiting for Jonas.
I'm really surprised
by Wout van Aert's attitude.
The yellow jersey came off,
and he's not even waiting for him.
Really surprising.
He clearly has his eye on the prize.
The other guys
would wait for Jonas,
and my teammates were strong enough
to do the job themselves.
We were entering
the final climb of the day.
The only thing I'm thinking about
is being in the right position
and trying to launch
my sprint at the right time.
So I stayed in the bunch.
Jasper Philipsen
at the front, really going for it.
You're almost there.
Come on! We're almost there.
Jonas Vingegaard
is back in the peloton.
We're heading to the finish.
Yeah, now it starts, the action.
Maillot jaune back in the bunch. And...
The two men at the front
have a 20-second lead on the peloton.
There might be a way
to defeat the sprinters today.
Another 20 kilometres to Carcassonne.
Two guys in the front, 20 seconds now.
The breakaway was so strong,
and we had still
fast sprinter guys in the bunch.
So, um, it was up to their teams
and our team to try to chase them down.
Just a small gap that has to be closed,
and then suddenly people,
they're not willing to close it.
Oddly,
the peloton is slowing down.
Still 20 seconds.
There's still a 20-second lead
for the front group,
which seems to have slowed down.
When you get
to the last 15 kilometres,
the general classification teams
mutually agree to say,
"Okay. Let's all calm down
and slow the pace of the peloton."
There have been a lot of crashes today.
They know that the sprinters
are going to take some risks.
They're going to jostle for position
to win the stage.
That's why the leaders
in the general classification
have decided to block the race
to avoid any danger.
The peloton
is totally cramped on this narrow road,
and there's nothing the sprinters can do.
I was thinking,
"Fuck, no. Not again. Not again today."
I want to be able
to have a sprint in the end.
Team INEOS
is blocking the road.
Yeah, then push them out of the way.
Just fucking push them out of the way.
We're also not in their way when
they ride for the Tour de France victory.
When the peloton crosses
into the final ten kilometres,
the teams of sprinters stop playing nice.
There's one goal, get the sprinter
into the best possible position
for the final sprint.
We had to catch up.
We couldn't let anybody ride away.
And Alpecin-Deceuninck takes the lead.
Thirty seconds, yeah? Thirty seconds.
Jasper Philipsen
takes the front position of the peloton.
Come on, guys. Come on.
Less than
four kilometres to the finish line.
Gougeard in trouble, and just
one man up front, Benjamin Thomas.
Benjamin Thomas
enters Carcassonne alone.
What if Benjamin Thomas goes all the way?
If he went all the way,
it'd be the first French win of the Tour.
It would be amazing.
But the sprinters
increase their pace. The gap narrows.
Jasper Philipsen on the right.
And Wout van Aert
throws away his last water bottle.
The Alpecin-Deceuninck are close
to launching Jasper Philipsen
who is aiming
for his first Tour de France victory.
Everybody tries to be
in the best position possible.
There is only
a certain amount of places on the road,
so you have to be 100% alert.
Wout van Aert is there.
Ten seconds from Benjamin Thomas.
Ten seconds from Benjamin Thomas.
Benjamin Thomas leans in.
And the pack of sprinters arrives.
Going to a sprint,
it's like 100% focus.
It's a fight at more than 60 K an hour
to maintain your position.
You can be as strong as you want,
but if you're two places too far
at the moment when you
have to launch your sprint,
you cannot beat the other guys.
If you go too early,
you maybe run out of energy.
Then they come with speed from the back.
Or you go too late,
and you couldn't do your full sprint.
It's a mental game between
the pain you feel in your legs,
and how bad you want it in your head.
Another 600 metres.
A big acceleration by Benjamin Thomas,
but he's gonna
get swallowed by the peloton.
There it is! The finish line is in sight!
Benjamin Thomas is overtaken.
Pedersen is second,
Wout van Aert is third place!
Wout van Aert is pelting ahead!
And Philipsen recovers, coming up
on the left in front of the barriers.
The green jersey, Pedersen,
and Philipsen at the same level!
Jasper Philipsen,
really pushing himself now.
Philipsen!
Jasper Philipsen has his first stage win
on the streets of the Tour de France!
Whoo!
When you see yourself
going first over the line,
many emotions, uh, come up, and...
you realise the thing you're aiming for
for such a long time,
it's finally there.
Yeah!
- The next one. Congrats.
- Thanks.
Thank you.
- Not like last year, huh?
- No.
Jasper!
Mate! Congratulations mate!
You deserve it.
You can't win every time.
I dug my own grave.
Jumbo-Visma
got decimated tonight.
A hard blow for the yellow jersey,
Jonas Vingegaard.
It was supposed to be
quite a calm and relaxed day.
But, of course, that was...
yeah, a pretty bad day for us.
Jonas was hurt a bit, huh...
and we didn't know how bad it would be.
We lost two very important helpers.
So, of course, we're a bit hit.
You're a bit nervous
going into the last few stages.
But still, anything can happen.
We'll just have to try
to do our best to come back.
Jasper Philipsen, you finally win
your stage of the Tour de France.
It must be a massive happiness for you.
Yeah. I know what losing
is like in the Tour de France.
I was close many, many times.
It's been a lot of, uh...
I'm not gonna cry on television.
But, uh, it's been a massive...
yeah, search for this victory.
And, uh...
we worked really hard for it.
Uh, we just had to wait, wait,
until the right moment
and right opportunity,
and today, uh, that was the day.
- Enjoy the moment. Sink the joy in.
- Thank you.
The road to success
is like ups and downs all the time.
Maybe in the end
you arrive, uh, in the top.
But there's a long way
towards the success.
You have to pick yourself up
after those disappointments,
and just find the motivation again.
- We did it!
- We've done it!
We did it.
I'm not done with the Tour yet.
COMING UP ON
TOUR DE FRANCE: UNCHAINED
David Gaudu is
in trouble and has dropped.
If you lack
the mental or personal strength,
you're not made for this job.
I have to bounce back for my team,
and go out there and achieve something.
Geraint Thomas
has to prove that, despite his age,
he can still make it
onto the podium in Paris.
Come on, G. All the way to the top.
Who will be
on the podium in Paris?
Gaudu accelerates.
You have to find that strength
and team spirit that will help you,
help you rise from the ashes.
STAGE 4 - ARRIVAL IN CALAIS
Jasper Philipsen
giving everything in this sprint.
Jasper Philipsen moves into the lead.
Philipsen thinks he's won it.
Yeah.
Philipsen celebrates,
thinks he's won the stage.
Why not?
But Wout van Aert was already there.
Wout van Aert wins
the stage with a stunning attack.
What the fuck was that?
I thought I won.
In stage four, I thought I won.
Jasper, he sometimes
lives in his own world.
I'm Jasper Philipsen,
and my nickname is "Jasper Disaster."
We try to work
as a team with him, as good as possible,
and there's no space, uh, for disaster.
TOUR DE FRANCE: UNCHAINED
All right.
All good?
Do I look straight ahead there?
I am Christoph Roodhooft.
Together with my brother, I am the manager
of Alpecin-Deceuninck cycling team.
Oh!
Me and my brother,
we started the team in 2009.
It was, last year,
our first very Tour de France as a team.
So, for us, it was all new.
And Mathieu van der Poel
attacks at full force.
Mathieu winning the stage,
getting the yellow jersey
in the Tour de France,
it's like..."Here we are now."
Mathieu is a big star in cycling.
He has been here
since he was 15 years old.
It's also his team.
It's three of us who created it.
It's been really cool
to see it develop and to be part of it.
But this year I've done
too many races, and it's not ideal.
I didn't really think it through.
Now, the Tour is in three weeks.
TRAINING CAMP
I've never seen a rider who can
really destroy himself like he can.
It's sometimes a bit scary
to see him go all the way.
After the Giro,
his sessions haven't been that good.
I used a lot of energy.
Now the Tour is gonna be really difficult.
We don't have the luxury to choose
from 20 riders to go to Tour de France.
Alpecin-Deceuninck,
ladies and gentlemen
First up,
Dutch superstar Mathieu van der Poel!
Alpecin-Deceuninck
is a small second-division team.
Their goal is to win stages.
And they've pinned all of their hopes
on Mathieu van der Poel.
The countdown has begun.
The second stage of
the Tour de France 2022 is about to start.
Two, one, go!
STAGE 2
Mathieu van der Poel lagging
at the back of the peloton
since the start of the stage
and doesn't seem interested
in fighting for victory.
STAGE 3
Surprising to still see
Van der Poel at the back.
When will he make his mark in the race?
Mathieu van der Poel
crosses the finish line
very, very far behind the favourites.
A very disappointing result.
We had high hopes for Van der Poel today,
but he wasn't there.
I was even worse.
At the moment, I'm a bit of
a shadow of myself, so it's frustrating.
Why do you think that is?
No idea. I wish I could tell you.
But I don't know.
I do think that doing both
Giro and the Tour was too much for him.
And I just think
he hasn't fully recovered.
I think this could become
a very long Tour for Mathieu.
We shaped the team
around Mathieu van der Poel,
but it's clear at a certain point,
the team needs to be strong enough
to continue without Mathieu van der Poel.
It was not how we planned it.
Of course we have other riders.
Jasper, he needs to step up.
It won't be easy.
But, for us, it's crucial.
I'm Jasper Philipsen.
My specialty is, uh, sprint.
LA PLAGNE
THE FRENCH ALPS
TRAINING CAMP
ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK
To complete
a Tour is really hard. Uh...
There will always be some moments
in the Grand Tour that you think,
"Fuck, what am I doing here?"
"What I do... to my body?"
It's just self-suicide attempt
for the body almost.
Okay, so, FTP intervals of six minutes
is for Silvan, for Jasper.
And there is only
two minutes of recovery in between.
As a sprinter, you are struggling
more over the mountains,
and you have to, uh,
survive on those hard days.
Looking forward toward the next sprints,
the next opportunities for yourself.
And keep on fighting.
Keep on putting pressure on the pedals.
Who forgot the lunch packet?
I'll bet on Jasper Philipsen.
No, no. You can take it in the car. Eh?
Jasper Philipsen is
a very friendly, empathetic guy.
- Still good leg day?
- Hup.
Aw!
They call him Jasper Disaster,
but I don't like it.
- The name?
- No.
Do I have shit on my cleats or not?
Yeah?
Things like this happen.
Sometimes I forget some things or... Yeah.
Just some small things
that looks like a disaster.
- Jasper!
- What?
What did I do?
It's always you, huh?
It's not equality in cycling.
You have to do things right.
And it's not okay
that you forget today your helmet,
and tomorrow your socks,
and then the day after, your shoes.
Let's go!
In the last Tour de France,
he finished six times in the top three,
which was... very nice.
But, in the end, there was no victory.
The nicest one to win
is the Champs-Élysées.
In Paris.
It was the last opportunity for a sprint.
And the most beautiful one.
Wout van Aert strikes.
Cavendish gets ready.
Philipsen is there as well.
Who's going to get it?
Photo on the line. Wout van Aert.
The goal was never achieved.
And I just remember, uh,
celebrating the end of the Tour
with a glass of champagne,
uh, with tears in my eyes
from the disappointment.
That was, uh, that was painful.
Jasper has to win stages.
But, the Jasper Disaster thing,
uh, we would like to disappear.
Welcome to the fourth stage
between Dunkirk and Calais.
A lovely day for the sprinters.
You still haven't won? It's never
taken this long in a Grand Tour.
I hope to find my good legs
in the next week,
and have a go at a stage win.
I really think we just have
to bet on Jasper today.
The flat stages are for sprinters.
Jasper is a really strong rider
in my opinion.
The day you have
an opportunity on the sprint,
these are the moments
you try to take with both hands.
Wout, you are solo.
Wout is solo. Wout is solo.
Eighteen seconds
with one kilometre to go
for van Aert, alone in the lead.
Wout van Aert wins
the stage with a stunning attack.
Philipsen celebrates,
thinks he's won the stage.
But Philipsen's going to be second.
What the fuck was that?
What a shame.
I thought I won.
On stage four, I thought I won.
I think he didn't know
that van Aert was up the road.
Oh, careful. Careful!
Wout was really strong.
He was the best today? Or...
Yeah, I think it shows, uh,
it shows how strong
and how incredible that effort was.
That he could, uh, make such a gap,
that's incredible.
Thank you.
- What the fuck is that?
- Come here.
Poor you.
Are you okay?
Oh, darling.
You're okay.
- Did you not hear anything?
- Let me be for a bit.
Yeah?
Should I wait here?
Come with me for a bit.
- On the screens it wasn't even noticeable.
- Luckily.
They're not writing anything about it.
It wasn't even noticeable it happened.
It's really so embarrassing.
- You didn't hear that van Aert was gone?
- No, how was that possible?
It was impossible that someone
would cycle away from there. Alone!
It's really incredible. It's not normal.
That fucking sucks.
They're all gonna laugh at me.
In the Tour, you're only
as good as your last day's racing.
And so far,
the last day's racing isn't that good.
It's been falling to pieces somewhat.
And it's not gonna
get easier from here on in.
And the 11th stage
of the Tour de France has begun.
We're heading
to the highest finish line of the Tour.
A real physical
and mental challenge for the riders.
The reason the mountains matter so much
is 'cause they're so hard.
Coming off the back of a first week
that has been absolutely brutal,
it's here, if you don't have the form,
you're not going to make it through.
11.3 kilometres and 9.5% incline.
I don't need this today.
The peloton is attacking
the first classified climb of the day.
Four minutes.
Damn it.
Another bad day
for Mathieu van der Poel.
He's dropped.
He's lost a lot of power
in the first 20 kilometres.
The riders are
one kilometre from the summit.
Okay, to the summit.
Mathieu van der Poel is two minutes
behind in reaching the summit.
It's a lot of suffering
over the mountains.
It's not easy to be
a cyclist at the highest level,
and people expect you to win every time.
I don't want that pressure in the Tour.
There's a big chance
he's going to step off. Right?
Hello! We're being told
someone is dropping out.
Mathieu van der Poel,
dropping out of the Tour.
- Mathieu has stopped.
- Stopped?
Mathieu van der Poel
really seemed to be struggling.
Nope.
It's already from the beginning
of the Tour that I don't feel like myself,
and it makes no sense to continue if you...
if you can't even follow the last guy.
That's not my place normally, so...
You know, you can do more bad
than good to be honest, so...
Yeah, it makes no sense to continue.
A great day for Jumbo-Visma
with a stage victory for Jonas Vingegaard.
Jasper Philipsen crosses the finish line
36 minutes behind today's winner.
Completely exhausted.
With Mathieu van der Poel dropping out,
it's been a terrible day
for the Alpecin team.
Every day
there are new disappointments.
The disappointment goes together
with some frustration.
When you have lost,
or when there's a disappointment,
then you have to accept, and...
most of the time
it does not stay that long.
Maybe I hope sometimes
that I could be a bit more emotional.
But now we need to move on with the Tour.
At this year's Tour de France,
they need to win a stage.
They kind of have to win a stage.
But without Mathieu van der Poel,
they've got limited options.
And that's not their fault.
They're not one of the biggest teams.
The bigger teams have lots of options.
So they're gonna
have to find another way to win.
But that's an opportunity as well.
For some of those riders,
the younger riders,
this is the opportunity
you've got to grasp.
It's been a tough Tour so far.
I hoped to have had a stage win already.
I was close a few times,
but it didn't happen so far.
Um, but I have a good motivation
to hopefully take my chances
in the last opportunities for us.
Carcassonne will be a crucial day for us.
STAGE 15
It will be
a stifling stage today.
The heat will be
the big factor of the day.
This will be one of
the hottest stages of the Tour.
- How you feeling?
- Uh...
- Warm.
- Warm? It's crazy, huh?
They're forecasting
40 degrees Celsius in the South West.
That's hot!
After all the effort, getting through
a heatwave on top of that is pretty tough.
Does the heat
have a big physical impact on you?
Yes. When your body heat goes
above 37 °C, it can't be good.
In heat like that, you can push two,
three times, at most.
After that, your heart rate just drops.
So you must be careful.
Stage 15 is a transition stage
between the Alps and the Pyrenees.
TEAM MEETING
ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK
We discussed already, a lot, the final.
We will try to achieve a sprint.
And to sprint for victory, of course.
Not like, uh, our friend there, in Calais.
We sprint this time for the victory,
hey, Jasper?
The team, we haven't won
so far in this Tour de France.
So, today is a possible chance,
and... yeah, the pressure is on.
The pressure is on me.
Wout van Aert is on the GC team.
They have higher priorities
than winning stage 15.
They want to win the Tour de France.
I'm just in a team
where we focus for stages.
We go all in for those days.
We go for it.
News about Primož Roglič,
who has decided to drop out of the race
after his fall on the cobblestones.
Yeah, it's really, really unfortunate
he has to go home.
We have the yellow jersey.
We need every help in the world.
I'm confident that the other...
that the other remaining riders,
uh, they can handle it.
But, of course,
it's not a good thing for the team.
Rodez to Carcassonne.
202 kilometres.
Main goal for today, keep the yellow safe.
Stick together. Make sure Jonas
can save as much as possible.
Actually, I'm really motivated
for the stage today.
I understand our tactic, but...
I would really like to try
and jump also in the breakaway.
I always want to be the best.
Ever since I started cycling,
I wanted to win the races
and always want to give 100%.
That's still, uh... That's still in me.
Personally, I also see it as a possibility
to get in front with a strong group.
French across...
Do I have the freedom for that, or...
Yeah, I think, like,
we have to see what happens.
What we just said, it's also important
to really keep Jonas in a good position.
Wout is one of
the biggest riders in the world.
But he's also important
as a helper for our yellow dream.
I don't want to end up again
sprinting for second place.
No, no, no, but the biggest priority,
keep the yellow safe.
Wout van Aert
is one of the superstars
of this generation of cycling.
Those guys, they, uh,
they just can do almost everything.
Those are just superstars
that don't, uh, don't get born every year.
Wout van Aert
is riding exceptionally well.
If he's in the final,
going for the sprint, how do you see that?
Surely, if it will come down to a sprint,
Wout van Aert will also
be there to, uh, try for the win.
So, that's a big rival for today also.
Sébastien, it's Bruno. Can you hear me?
One, two, three. Hello, everybody.
Testing on Radio Tour broadcasting live.
Welcome to the 15th stage
of the Tour de France.
Jonas Vingegaard is still in yellow.
He has a two-minute
and 22-second lead over Tadej Pogačar.
Geraint Thomas is in third place.
The race is about to start.
The race has started!
You can see a fair few sprinters,
already in position at the front.
The Alpecin team is, of course,
going to try to secure
the stage for Jasper Philipsen,
one of the fastest guys in the peloton.
And the green jersey, Wout van Aert,
who may be a real threat today.
He's an all-rounder
and found the mountain stage
less arduous than the other sprinters.
A crash! A crash in the peloton.
A crash in the peloton!
Wout van Aert is down.
And so is Steven Kruijswijk.
The race has stopped.
Fuck!
...the crash.
The green jersey has also stopped.
This may prove
to be a bad day for Jumbo-Visma.
Do you need a bike, Stevie?
Do you need a bike?
Bike?
Race restarts,
it's back on at the front.
And Wout van Aert
is still waiting for his teammate.
When Stevie crashed,
I was, uh, just behind him.
So, uh, I stand still with him
because I saw
he was really in a lot of pain.
The peloton continues,
moving at quite a pace.
I don't think
they've slowed down in the least.
Steven Kruijswijk, one of
the main domestiques of Jonas Vingegaard,
and Wout van Aert leaves him.
I made a call myself. I wanted
to wait with him, but then I realised,
I would be left alone
with no chance of coming back.
Wout van Aert
can't wait for Kruijswijk.
His job isn't to stay behind
but to reclaim his place
in the peloton near the yellow jersey.
Your car must stay with Stevie.
He dislocated his shoulder.
No, we have to go.
I think it looked bad.
Stevie is out of the race, unfortunately.
It's really, really shit.
- Fuck!
- Fucking hell!
Jumbo-Visma has lost
two riders, Roglič and Kruijswijk.
He's coming back.
Behind us.
Wout van Aert
is back in the peloton.
The rest of the Jumbo-Visma team
ahead of him, protecting Jonas Vingegaard.
At the front, Jasper Philipsen
for Alpecin-Deceuninck.
Another 60 kilometres to go.
Refocus. Refocus after
the crash in the bunch.
Watch out through the village.
Also, there are speed bumps
and the traffic furniture. Be careful.
41.7 kilometres
and watch out for the speed bump.
Ah!
What happened to the brakes?
Everyone is a bit nervous.
We lost a very important helper
and rider for the team.
And we don't want this to happen again.
And then five kilometres later,
there was a little bit
of tension in the peloton.
Ah!
A lot of roundabouts
coming in the middle sections.
We came out of a roundabout,
and the peloton was getting back together.
- What?
- Another crash.
- Crash Jonas.
- No!
There's a crash.
The yellow jersey crashed!
Jonas crashed. Jonas crashed.
We have to wait for Jonas.
The yellow jersey has crashed.
Vingegaard has crashed, but...
I'm thinking, "Shit, this was not good."
And maybe this is it.
Maybe I'm out of the Tour de France.
I need a new bike! I need a new bike!
A big problem
for Jonas Vingegaard,
who has to change bikes
and throws his bike on the ground.
It's a terrible half hour for Jumbo-Visma.
Let's go.
The car behind
the lead group, go back to the front.
Okay, yeah.
I think almost everybody
is waiting for Jonas.
I'm really surprised
by Wout van Aert's attitude.
The yellow jersey came off,
and he's not even waiting for him.
Really surprising.
He clearly has his eye on the prize.
The other guys
would wait for Jonas,
and my teammates were strong enough
to do the job themselves.
We were entering
the final climb of the day.
The only thing I'm thinking about
is being in the right position
and trying to launch
my sprint at the right time.
So I stayed in the bunch.
Jasper Philipsen
at the front, really going for it.
You're almost there.
Come on! We're almost there.
Jonas Vingegaard
is back in the peloton.
We're heading to the finish.
Yeah, now it starts, the action.
Maillot jaune back in the bunch. And...
The two men at the front
have a 20-second lead on the peloton.
There might be a way
to defeat the sprinters today.
Another 20 kilometres to Carcassonne.
Two guys in the front, 20 seconds now.
The breakaway was so strong,
and we had still
fast sprinter guys in the bunch.
So, um, it was up to their teams
and our team to try to chase them down.
Just a small gap that has to be closed,
and then suddenly people,
they're not willing to close it.
Oddly,
the peloton is slowing down.
Still 20 seconds.
There's still a 20-second lead
for the front group,
which seems to have slowed down.
When you get
to the last 15 kilometres,
the general classification teams
mutually agree to say,
"Okay. Let's all calm down
and slow the pace of the peloton."
There have been a lot of crashes today.
They know that the sprinters
are going to take some risks.
They're going to jostle for position
to win the stage.
That's why the leaders
in the general classification
have decided to block the race
to avoid any danger.
The peloton
is totally cramped on this narrow road,
and there's nothing the sprinters can do.
I was thinking,
"Fuck, no. Not again. Not again today."
I want to be able
to have a sprint in the end.
Team INEOS
is blocking the road.
Yeah, then push them out of the way.
Just fucking push them out of the way.
We're also not in their way when
they ride for the Tour de France victory.
When the peloton crosses
into the final ten kilometres,
the teams of sprinters stop playing nice.
There's one goal, get the sprinter
into the best possible position
for the final sprint.
We had to catch up.
We couldn't let anybody ride away.
And Alpecin-Deceuninck takes the lead.
Thirty seconds, yeah? Thirty seconds.
Jasper Philipsen
takes the front position of the peloton.
Come on, guys. Come on.
Less than
four kilometres to the finish line.
Gougeard in trouble, and just
one man up front, Benjamin Thomas.
Benjamin Thomas
enters Carcassonne alone.
What if Benjamin Thomas goes all the way?
If he went all the way,
it'd be the first French win of the Tour.
It would be amazing.
But the sprinters
increase their pace. The gap narrows.
Jasper Philipsen on the right.
And Wout van Aert
throws away his last water bottle.
The Alpecin-Deceuninck are close
to launching Jasper Philipsen
who is aiming
for his first Tour de France victory.
Everybody tries to be
in the best position possible.
There is only
a certain amount of places on the road,
so you have to be 100% alert.
Wout van Aert is there.
Ten seconds from Benjamin Thomas.
Ten seconds from Benjamin Thomas.
Benjamin Thomas leans in.
And the pack of sprinters arrives.
Going to a sprint,
it's like 100% focus.
It's a fight at more than 60 K an hour
to maintain your position.
You can be as strong as you want,
but if you're two places too far
at the moment when you
have to launch your sprint,
you cannot beat the other guys.
If you go too early,
you maybe run out of energy.
Then they come with speed from the back.
Or you go too late,
and you couldn't do your full sprint.
It's a mental game between
the pain you feel in your legs,
and how bad you want it in your head.
Another 600 metres.
A big acceleration by Benjamin Thomas,
but he's gonna
get swallowed by the peloton.
There it is! The finish line is in sight!
Benjamin Thomas is overtaken.
Pedersen is second,
Wout van Aert is third place!
Wout van Aert is pelting ahead!
And Philipsen recovers, coming up
on the left in front of the barriers.
The green jersey, Pedersen,
and Philipsen at the same level!
Jasper Philipsen,
really pushing himself now.
Philipsen!
Jasper Philipsen has his first stage win
on the streets of the Tour de France!
Whoo!
When you see yourself
going first over the line,
many emotions, uh, come up, and...
you realise the thing you're aiming for
for such a long time,
it's finally there.
Yeah!
- The next one. Congrats.
- Thanks.
Thank you.
- Not like last year, huh?
- No.
Jasper!
Mate! Congratulations mate!
You deserve it.
You can't win every time.
I dug my own grave.
Jumbo-Visma
got decimated tonight.
A hard blow for the yellow jersey,
Jonas Vingegaard.
It was supposed to be
quite a calm and relaxed day.
But, of course, that was...
yeah, a pretty bad day for us.
Jonas was hurt a bit, huh...
and we didn't know how bad it would be.
We lost two very important helpers.
So, of course, we're a bit hit.
You're a bit nervous
going into the last few stages.
But still, anything can happen.
We'll just have to try
to do our best to come back.
Jasper Philipsen, you finally win
your stage of the Tour de France.
It must be a massive happiness for you.
Yeah. I know what losing
is like in the Tour de France.
I was close many, many times.
It's been a lot of, uh...
I'm not gonna cry on television.
But, uh, it's been a massive...
yeah, search for this victory.
And, uh...
we worked really hard for it.
Uh, we just had to wait, wait,
until the right moment
and right opportunity,
and today, uh, that was the day.
- Enjoy the moment. Sink the joy in.
- Thank you.
The road to success
is like ups and downs all the time.
Maybe in the end
you arrive, uh, in the top.
But there's a long way
towards the success.
You have to pick yourself up
after those disappointments,
and just find the motivation again.
- We did it!
- We've done it!
We did it.
I'm not done with the Tour yet.
COMING UP ON
TOUR DE FRANCE: UNCHAINED
David Gaudu is
in trouble and has dropped.
If you lack
the mental or personal strength,
you're not made for this job.
I have to bounce back for my team,
and go out there and achieve something.
Geraint Thomas
has to prove that, despite his age,
he can still make it
onto the podium in Paris.
Come on, G. All the way to the top.
Who will be
on the podium in Paris?
Gaudu accelerates.
You have to find that strength
and team spirit that will help you,
help you rise from the ashes.