Singapore – Sunday 29th october 2023:
- Jasper Philipsen, the winner of the most races this year, arrived in Singapore with 19 victories under his belt and completed his season in style, winning ahead of Mark Cavendish and Tadej Pogacar.
- The Belgian sprinter, who deprived “Cav” of a 35th stage in Bordeaux, continues to block his way at every opportunity. The current master of the exercise thus promises the greatest sprinter in history an unbearable quest for the record next summer, despite their close relationship.
- Philipsen and Cavendish on a stage podium is almost commonplace, but today they are joined by “Pogi”, who is also one of the victor’s best mates. The Slovenian put all his enthusiasm into winning the second edition of the Tour de France Prudential Singapore Critérium, but had to be content with the combativity prize and a success in the team time trial with his UAE Emirates companions.
UAE AND “POGI”, A WINNING TEAM
After a series of races held in the morning and open to amateurs, the vintage challenge demonstrating that Singaporeans are passionate collectors of old bicycles and jerseys, the Critérium began with an ultra-explosive three-kilometre team time trial. Among the elite teams, the defending title holders, Cofidis, set off with the aim of doing well. For a long time, their strategy seemed to pay off, with Victor Lafay and Simon Geschke determined to analyse the first part of the course before letting Axel Zingle and Thomas Champion take control of the stage, with the team’s time recorded on the second rider. The benchmark thus established held up well against Ineos despite being led by the phenomenal specialist Joshua Tarling. It was looking good for the French squad at this stage, but that was before the UAE Emirates’ rush down the streets of Singapore. Five seconds quicker than Cofidis, Tadej Pogacar, who isn’t one to pass up the chance of a win, led his group to victory with tactics that are often simplistic for the Slovenian: “It was a short stage, there was no planning, we were flat out from start to finish. You never know what to expect over this distance, but we’ve got a strong team, so it worked.”
THE SPRINT MASTERS EXPRESS THEMSELVES
The concept of a circuit race, especially over a distance of 60 kilometres, is an incentive to declare one’s ambitions early on. Singapore’s Boon Kiak Yeo was inspired to do just that, taking the honour of launching the first breakaway from kilometre zero. But on lap four, Peter Sagan rediscovered the tactics of his best years, scoring maximum the points in the first intermediate sprint, controlling a group of four that he shared with Tadej Pogacar, Giulio Ciccone and South Korean rider Euro Kim. The pairing changed slightly at km 24, but Peter Sagan remained in the lead to take the points, with the peloton now 23 seconds behind him. At the third points sprint (km 36), the gap had narrowed, but the three-time world champion still managed to take the green jersey. Attempts to attack from a distance, including Victor Lafay, Leo Hayter and Malaysian champion Muhamad Mohd Zariff, never pulled away from the peloton by more than 15 seconds. And yet, Tadej Pogacar’s solo attack on the final lap had all the hallmarks of a probable victory. He certainly didn’t have enough gradient to make the difference! Under the Red Flame, the Slovenian was still out front, but the sprinters in contention hadn’t lost sight of him. In the final 300 metres, Pogacar could only look on as Cavendish and Philipsen broke away. The green jersey showed his power, as he had done four times in the 2023 Tour. The sequel is anticipated on the Italian roads heading to Turin on stage 3 of the 111th Tour de France.
ROBBIE MCEWEN: MEMOIRS OF AN AMBASSADOR
The photo is worth its weight in stages: 64 to be exact, won at the Tour de France by Mark Cavendish (34), Peter Sagan (12), Jasper Philipsen (6) and Robbie McEwen (12), and a total of 13 green jerseys donned on the final podium. Although he retired in 2012, the Australian sprinter accepted an invitation to the Criterium as an ambassador. A TV consultant for several years, the rider who enjoyed most of his success in the Lotto jersey was quite at ease presenting the competitors. In touch with the colours and a semblance of the atmosphere of the Tour, McEwen also found himself in an ideal position to talk about some of the memorable moments in his career, highlighted by successes on French roads. And in the list of his victories, he struggled to single out two. “The biggest thrill was the first one I won, in 1999, because I also won on the Champs-Elysées. It was my third Tour, and I was waiting for that victory. It was my 65th stage, so it was getting frustrating. Eight years later, in Canterbury, Robbie didn’t know that he was raising his arms for the last time in the Tour, but the race scenario made it a fitting moment: “It was so special because I’d crashed with 20 km to go. Several teammates had waited for me, but I didn’t rejoin the peloton until five kilometres from the finish. I managed to catch up with everyone and ended up winning, which was incredible”. That day could have been the big debut for Mark Cavendish, who was making his Tour debut on home soil. But he was absent from the bunch sprint due to a mechanical problem. McEwen remembers perfectly the 22-year-old’s reputation: “There was so much buzz about him because he already had some excellent victories under his belt, including beating me in the Scheldeprijs. It was very promising, but not to the extent of imagining what he would go on to do. It’s all the more exceptional given that his career has been full of ups and downs in the Tour. He could just as easily have won 40 stages and the green jersey five times. He’s always managed to rise from the ashes, and that’s amazing.”
