Jasper Philipsen, the young Belgian who continues to amaze at the Tour de France

Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) took his fourth victory in the 11th stage of the 110th Tour de France Wednesday. The green jersey beat Dutchman Dylan Groenewegen (Team Jayco AlUla) and German Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Victorious) in the bunch sprint after 180 kilometres.

Jasper the Master is the new nickname Philipsen has earned for himself. "I can't believe how well things are going. I am so proud and happy with my form," he said after winning his fourth jersey. This makes the young Belgian the most successful sprinter in the Tour de France so far.

Excellent year

Philipsen has already shown that he is in excellent form this year. The Alpecin-Deceuninck sprinter was second at Paris-Roubaix. He was also fastest on two stages of the multi-day Tirreno-Adriatico and won the classics Brugge-de Panne, Scheldeprijs and Elfstedenronde.

Philipsen has already shown in the early sprints that he is in a class of his own in this Tour. During Wednesday's stage, the other teams were once again surprised by his speed. However, there is a flip side to all this success, as not everyone is thrilled with the Belgian's continued success.

Hate messages

Philipsen says he sometimes gets hate messages, mainly from supporters of Girmay and Cavendish. "I could scroll through them for hours, but it wouldn't make me happier. So I don't deal with them. These messages certainly don't make me lose my balance," he told Het Belang van Limburg newspaper.

After the 11th stage, Dane Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) remains in the general classification lead, 17 seconds ahead of Slovenian Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates). Australian Jai Hindley (BORA - hansgrohe) is third at 2'40".

Thursday's twelfth stage, over 169 kilometres between Roanne and Belleville-en-Beaujolais, features five climbs, three of which are third category and two of which are second category.

^{© BELGA PHOTO DAVID PINTENS}