Jasper Philipsen has attracted interest from Bora-Hansgrohe, UAE Team Emirates and Tudor for 2025 but Alpecin-Deceuninck hope to keep the Milan-San Remo winner alongside Mathieu van der Poel and continue their Classics and sprint dream team.
Philipsen recently hired Italian agent Alex Carera and talked openly about his future during Tirreno-Adriatico, making it clear he wants a four-year contract and a salary that reflects his success and potential. He is expected to make an initial decision on his future after targeting Paris-Roubaix, but under UCI rules, formal contracts can only be signed after August 1.
Winning Milan-San Remo only raised Philipsen’s value and the interest in signing him. Philipsen won four sprint stages and the green jersey at the 2023 Tour de France but has also proven he is developing into a Classic contender, following the career path of Tom Boonen, who also hails from northern Flanders. He was second behind Van der Poel at the 2023 Paris-Roubaix and the Dutchman sacrificed his own chances at Milan-San Remo to set up Philipsen for the sprint.
Alpecin-Deceuninck is managed by Philip and Christoph Roodhooft. Last week they smiled and shook hands with Van der Poel as he agreed to a new contract that lasts until the end of 2028, with Canyon agreeing a ten-year rider and then an ambassador deal with the multidisciplinary world champion.
Keeping van der Poel and Philipsen could cost the Roodhooft brothers and their sponsors around €10 million per season but they seem quietly confident they can do it. The biggest problem could be managing their combined ambitions for the biggest Classics but that has not proven to be a problem so far.
An alternative strategy could be to try to sign or develop a Grand Tour rider and so widen their ambitions even further.
“The situation is that we are currently in discussions,” Philip Roodhooft told Nieuwsblad on the contract talks with Philipsen and Carera.
“Without getting ahead of ourselves, I have a good feeling about it. I certainly don’t have the impression that we are having a deaf conversation.”
Alpecin-Deceuninck enjoyed a successful 2023 and have developed a successful WorldTour structure, with Van der Poel winning Milan-San Remo, Paris-Roubaix, the World Championships in Glasgow and taking a haul of other races and results in road racing, cyclocross and mountain biking.
Philipsen…
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