Tour de France racer mistakenly celebrates stage win... after coming second

Tour de France rider Jasper Philipsen was left red-faced after triumphantly celebrating crossing the finish line in second place of Tuesday’s stage - having thought he was the winner.

Yellow-jersey holder Wout van Aert took the victory in Calais by several seconds and was so far up the road that Alpecin-Deceuninck racer Philipsen thought he was the victor.

TV cameras witnessed Van Aert pull off a bird-like celebration as he won before Philipsen pushed hard in a sprint finish to beat the following peloton, displaying his own winners’ belt celebration.

The Dane admitted that he had lost sight of Van Aert late in the stage and was not informed over team radio that he was no longer fighting for the win.

He said afterwards: “I felt good but at the moment I’m just a bit disappointed.

“For four or five seconds I honestly thought I won, it will make funny images in the end.

“I didn’t want this though so it’s a bit s*** also. I just didn’t know [Van Aert] was in front. I also never heard on the radio so yeah that’s a shame and why I sprinted for the win.”

Van Aert holds a 25-second advantage in the general classification for the Tour after four stages, ahead of a 98-mile hill stage from Lille to Arenberg on Wednesday.