The importance of teamwork took center stage at the 2024 Tour de France as Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen of Alpecin-Deceuninck won Stage 16 in a sprint finish behind the efforts of teammate Mathieu van der Poel. 

After a rest day Monday, the Tour continued Tuesday with Stage 16, a flat 117-mile ride in hot and windy conditions from Gruissan to Nîmes. The last flat stage of the Tour, Stage 16 marked the last opportunity for the sprinters to claim glory. 

Philipsen did just that. In the last few hundred meters of the race, Van der Poel flawlessly executed a classic lead-out, seizing control with Philipsen on his wheel. With Van der Poel’s help out front, Philipsen accelerated to outpace Phil Bauhaus of Bahrain Victorious and Alexander Kristoff of Uno-X Mobility.

"I'm really happy after such a team effort," Philipsen said after his win. "It's always nice when you can win together."

Today’s victory marks Philipsen's third Tour stage win of the year and the ninth of his career. The Belgian had a slow start to the Tour but has turned his fortunes around since winning Stage 10.  Philipsen has now won half of the stages of the last week. 

The race for the green jersey (points classification) also heats up with Tuesday's results as Eritrea’s Biniam Girmay of Intermarché-Wanty crashed at high speed in the final meters of the race. Girmay has had a breakout Tour, winning three previous sprint stages and making history as the first Black African rider to win a Tour de France stage. 

The extent of Girmay’s injuries is not yet known, but the green jersey wearer got back on his bike with visible cuts up his arm and leg and was able to finish the race flanked by two of his teammates. 

"I just hope (Biniam’s) okay after the crash because he doesn’t deserve to lose like this," Philipsen said.

Girmay led Philipsen by 86 points before Stage 16, but his lead has now narrowed to 32 points, increasing the stakes of the intermediate sprints during future stages. 

"I will just try what I can but hard stages are yet to come, so we go day by day but we also mostly enjoy this win," Philipsen said of his chances of winning the green jersey. 

The general classification standings remain unchanged. This Tour is still Team UAE Emirates’ Tadej Pogačar’s to lose as the 25-year-old Slovenian maintains his strong position heading into the final week of racing. Today’s stage marked Pogačar’s 100th day of his career racing the Tour de France and, highlighting his dominance, his 34th wearing the yellow jersey. 

Tour de France Stage 16 results

TOUR DE FRANCE: Recap, results and standings after Stage 15

Tour de France general classification standings after Stage 16

Tour de France jersey standings after Stage 16

• Yellow (general classification): Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates)
• Green (points classification): Biniam Girmay (Intermarché - Wanty)
• Polka dot (mountains classification): Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates); worn by Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) in second place
• White (young rider classification): Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep)
• Yellow numbers (teams classification): UAE Team Emirates
• Golden numbers (combativity award): Thomas Gachignard (TotalEnergies)

Tour de France Stage 17: How to watch, schedule, distance

Date: Wednesday, July 17, 2024

Location: Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux to Superdévoluy (France)

Distance: 110.5 miles (177.8 km)

Type: Mountain stage 

Streaming: Peacock, FuboTV

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