{"id":2770,"date":"2025-07-08T09:29:23","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T07:29:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/franceletour.com\/?p=2770"},"modified":"2025-07-08T09:29:24","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T07:29:24","slug":"green-jersey-abandonments-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/franceletour.com\/fr\/green-jersey-abandonments-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Tour de France History: Riders Who Quit While Leading the Green Jersey"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday, Jasper Philipsen tragically crashed out of Stage 3 at the 2025 Tour de France while wearing the green jersey. It\u2019s always tough to watch one of the sport\u2019s biggest stars brought down like this, especially when he\u2019s been leading the charge as the peloton\u2019s top sprinter. Philipsen has become a fan favourite for a reason, and cycling feels incomplete without him contesting those furious finishes. Here\u2019s hoping for a swift and full recovery so we can see him back where he belongs \u2014 at the front of the pack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moments like this are rare, heartbreaking, and always dramatic. And it\u2019s not the first time a green jersey contender has been forced out of the Tour. Let\u2019s rewind through cycling history and revisit some of the most unforgettable cases when sprinters in green had to abandon early, leaving the points race wide open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mario Cipollini (1993): The Fastest Man Walks Away<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The flamboyant Italian sprinter Mario Cipollini was untouchable in the first week of the 1993 Tour. Dominating the sprints, he built a commanding lead in the green jersey classification. But after a brutal crash in stage 12, Cipollini suffered a fractured collarbone and had to abandon the race \u2014 still leading the points competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Cipollini famously said, \u201cThe green jersey isn\u2019t worth a hospital bed,\u201d<\/em> after his exit.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Tom Steels (1998): Illness Ends a Green Charge<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Belgian sprinter Tom Steels had a string of stage victories and was in green on stage 16 in 1998, but a sudden stomach virus derailed his Tour. Too weak to continue, Steels abandoned in the Pyrenees, leaving the sprinters\u2019 contest in chaos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Mark Cavendish (2017): Elbowed Out of Contention<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While not officially leading the green jersey at the time, Mark Cavendish\u2019s 2017 Tour exit became one of the most controversial abandonments. After a collision with Peter Sagan during a high-speed sprint finish in Vittel, Cavendish crashed heavily, suffering a fractured shoulder blade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sagan was disqualified for the incident \u2014 one of the most high-profile expulsions in Tour history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Jasper Philipsen (2025): Crash and Broken Bones in Dunkirk<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Fast forward to July 7, 2025. Jasper Philipsen, the defending points champion, had already claimed stage 1 and was wearing the green jersey when disaster struck during the intermediate sprint in stage 3. Clashing with Bryan Coquard and Laurenz Rex at nearly 60 km\/h, Philipsen went down hard, sustaining a displaced collarbone fracture and two broken ribs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His abandonment left a vacuum in the green jersey competition, reopening the fight for sprinters like Biniam Girmay, Jonathan Milan, and teammate Mathieu van der Poel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udcca A Rare Club: Riders to Leave the Tour While in Green<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Year<\/th>Rider<\/th>Reason<\/th>Stage<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
1993<\/td>Mario Cipollini<\/td>Crash (collarbone)<\/td>12<\/td><\/tr>
1998<\/td>Tom Steels<\/td>Illness<\/td>16<\/td><\/tr>
2025<\/td>Jasper Philipsen<\/td>Crash (collarbone + ribs)<\/td>3<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

The Green Jersey is Gruelling<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The points classification, or maillot vert<\/em>, rewards consistency, speed, and resilience \u2014 but sprinters have to survive mountains, crashes, and illness. These abandonments remind fans that while the sprinter\u2019s life may seem glamorous, it\u2019s often brutal and unforgiving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the 2025 Tour continues, fans and pundits will be watching closely to see who claims green in Philipsen\u2019s absence.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday, Jasper Philipsen tragically crashed out of Stage 3 at the 2025 Tour de France while wearing the green jersey. It\u2019s always tough to watch one of the sport\u2019s biggest stars brought down like this, especially when he\u2019s been leading the charge as the peloton\u2019s top sprinter. Philipsen has become a fan favourite for a…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tour-de-france"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":28,"label":"Tour de France"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"Evan Pembroke","author_link":"https:\/\/franceletour.com\/fr\/author\/evan-pembroke\/"},"comment_info":1,"category_info":[{"term_id":28,"name":"Tour de France","slug":"tour-de-france","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":28,"taxonomy":"category","description":"Live the Tour de France cycling race. Get stage results, route maps, team insights, and historical highlights from every edition of Le Grand Boucle.","parent":0,"count":14,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":28,"category_count":14,"category_description":"Live the Tour de France cycling race. Get stage results, route maps, team insights, and historical highlights from every edition of Le Grand Boucle.","cat_name":"Tour de France","category_nicename":"tour-de-france","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/franceletour.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/franceletour.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/franceletour.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/franceletour.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/franceletour.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2770"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/franceletour.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2770\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2771,"href":"https:\/\/franceletour.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2770\/revisions\/2771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/franceletour.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/franceletour.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/franceletour.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}