Jasper Philipsen won the sprint in Zaragosse on the 8th stage

The Belgian, already victorious of the first stage of the Vuelta, raised his arms again on Saturday, after a sprint won by half a bicycle.

Forced to abandon the Tour de France, Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) has already succeeded in his tour of Spain. Winner of the first stage in the sprint and carrying the red jersey for a day, the Belgian sprinter reissued his performance in the streets of Zaragosse, after a stage of 163.5 kilometers from Monzon Templario, Saturday August 30.

His team had participated earlier in the pursuit of the three escaped men, caught up 17 kilometers from the finish. Then in the final packaging, Jasper Philipsen slipped into the wheel of French Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) and took advantage of his effort to go back to the outposts. He resisted the wave of Elia Viviani (Lotto) who could have tested him against the barriers, and won half a bicycle, for his 15th Victory in the Grand Tour. Viviani, second, was downgraded.

“I lost my teammates a few hundred meters from the finish, I failed to stay in their wheel, so I had to find my own path to go up. Is this my 15th victory? Each is special because you suffer so much on the steps in the mountains to reach that “commented the Belgian after the race. The red jersey of the general classification remains on the shoulders of the Norwegian Torstein Traeen (Bahrain-Victorious).