The fourth day of the race saw the Belgian lead a bunch finish at speed, as he finished in 4hours 25min 28sec.

Philipsen managed to edge out Lotto-Dstny's Caleb Ewan of Australia on the line after several riders crashed on the Circuit de Nogaro in a chaotic end to the 182km stage from Dax.

"It was close in the end so I'm happy they confirmed it quickly," Alpecin-Deceuninck's Philipsen said, after having to wait for a race jury decision before yesterday's triumph. 

"It was really an easy stage, I think everybody wanted to save their legs for the Pyrenees tomorrow and the day after but the final kilometres entering the circuit there were some crashes so I hope everybody is okay and safe.

"It was a hectic final - with the turns in the end I lost my team but in the final straight I found Mathieu van der Poel and he did an amazing pull to get me to victory.

"My legs were cramping and Caleb was coming close."

Riding for Team Bahrain Victorious, Germany's Phil Bauhaus picked up his second podium in a row as he clinched third place to follow yesterday's second-placed finish.

The result underlines Philipsen's status as one of the world's best sprinters as he came from afar after being guided by his lead-out team-mate Mathieu van der Poel of The Netherlands, who questioned the choice of location for the finish.

"A circuit is not safer than a road," he said.

"I'm just happy I managed to stay upright and managed to find a gap for Jasper."

British veteran Mark Cavendish finished fifth as he narrowly missed out on making history for the second stage in a row.

The Astana Qazaqstan Team rider is seeking a 35^th Tour de France stage win to break the all-time record he shares with Belgium's Eddy Merckx.

The race is set to continue tomorrow with a 163km ride from Pau to Laruns.