🎥Philipsen justifies taunting with "I thought three leaders were fine", 'bold Dutchman' Eenkhoorn scolded the Belgian rider

Jasper Philipsen has not made himself very popular among fellow riders and cycling fans during the eighteenth stage. The Belgian rider from Alpecin-Deceuninck saw his teammates closely control the race for a mass sprint, but he personally thwarted an attack by Pascal Eenkhoorn from Lotto-Dstny on a climb, and he did it in a not very sportsmanlike manner.

On the Côte de Boissieu, the second and final categorized climb of the day, Alpecin-Deceuninck had to put in the work. About a minute behind a leading group of three, several riders attempted to break away. Philipsen's team, together with Jayco-AlUla of Dylan Groenewegen, didn't want to let that happen.

That went well for a long time, until Eenkhoorn made one more attack, just before the summit. Now Philipsen himself went into pursuit, caught up to the Dutchman, and cut him off towards the roadside. On social media, the action was immediately met with not-so-kind reactions, which some called "arrogant." One person said, "You can't disqualify him for this, but power corrupts people." Another commented, "I hope from here on out, all teams keep attacking like crazy."

The moment was also discussed by analysts. Tom Dumoulin, speaking on NOS, believes that the sprinter teams shouldn't act so weird. "They are the ones keeping the gap at one minute, so people can bridge the gap. This just costs Philipsen energy that he needs for the finale. Eenkhoorn is a cheeky little guy, he doesn't care. He just attacks again and again. And rightly so, the sprinter teams should then have given the breakaway group more than two minutes."

" I think he was a little irritated."

"At my first attack, I was briefly harassed by Philipsen," Eenkhoorn comments during an interview with NOS. "If we want to race, we should be allowed to race." However, the former Dutch national champion didn't let himself be intimidated. "Then I become that cheeky bold Dutchman. I know Jasper well, and I grabbed him for a moment and said: that's ridiculous, let's not do that again. I think he was a little irritated," Eenkhoorn says.

Philipsen explained his action to Sporza. "I wanted to sprint, and I thought having three leaders was fine," said the wearer of the green jersey, who claimed he had no ill intentions. "It was certainly not meant to be bad or arrogant. But I didn't want more riders up front."

Video: Philipsen taunting Eenkhoorn as he attacks