Tour de France 2023: Jasper Philipsen doubles up in crash-marred finish to Stage 4, Mark Cavendish fifth

Mathieu van der Poel once again proved his weight in gold after helping Alpecin-Deceuninck team-mate Jasper Philipsen to another win on the Tour de France. A finish littered with crashes on the Nogaro motor racing circuit in Southwest France saw in-form Philipsen sprint to a second successive triumph while underlying his status as the fastest man on this year’s race.

Ad Once again, it was Philipsen's Dutch team-mate Van der Poel who provided the spark after the 25-year-old sprinter found himself isolated as he headed onto the chaotic 750m home straight of an otherwise uneventful Stage 4. Tour de FranceCavendish on crash-laden finish to Stage 4 — 'That was carnage'AN HOUR AGO Once reunited with Van der Poel, Philipsen was launched at just the right moment and managed to hold off a late surge from Australia’s Caleb Ewan (Lotto Dstny) and Germany’s Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious).

Frenchman Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) and Britain’s Mark Cavendish (Astana-Qazaqstan) completed the top five but European champion Fabio Jakobsen (Soudal-QuickStep) was among a cluster of riders who hit the deck in a series of separate incidents in the tense final kilometres. Philipsen’s second win on the Tour propelled him to the top of the green jersey standings, which he leads over Sunday’s Stage 2 winner Victor Lafay (Cofidis) by 150 points to the Frenchman’s 80 points.

The 182km stage from Dax had no impact on the general classification, with Britain’s Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) retaining his six-second lead over Slovenian team-mate Tadej Pogacar going into two days in the Pyrenees. Tour de France Stage 4 as it happened: Philipsen strikes twice Fabio Jakobsen slams 'stupid' Stage 3 finish On a cloudy and overcast day of very little drama,