Tour de France 2023: Jordi Meeus stuns Jasper Philipsen on Champs-Elysees as Jonas Vingegaard defends title

Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) wrapped up a second Tour de France title as a weary peloton arrived into Paris – but the big talking point on the final day was Jordi Meeus (Bora-hansgrohe) denying Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) a fifth victory with a shock sprint win on the Champs-Elysees.

Meeus, who got the nod over Sam Bennett for the Tour, had been hardly spotted in the sprints amid Philipsen’s domination, but he chose the perfect moment to come good as he edged a four-up finish.

A lively day kicked off when Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) launched off the front with 48km remaining as Nathan Van Hooydonck (Jumbo-Visma) joined him. Sadly for the Slovenian, and the watching fans, his Dutch rival was not prepared to contribute to the charge – even though Pogacar was never going to overturn a 7’29” deficit on Van Hooydonck’s team-mate Vingegaard in the race for yellow.

While Pogacar plugged an incredible tempo, at one stage building a 15-second gap, it never looked like sticking as the sprint teams hovered menacingly towards the front of the peloton. Eventually they were caught and after other attacks had been and gone, it all came back together for the final of eight laps in the French capital.

Philipsen looked primed for win No. 5 when he sat on team-mate Mathieu van der Poel’s wheel on the final straight, but he was forced to fight back as Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco AlUla), Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and Meeus stormed round them.

Meeus and Philipsen crossed the line within a split second of each other but replays soon confirmed that the Bora man had claimed the unlikeliest of victories on the most prestigious of days.