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Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) rode the wave of confidence from his Milan-San Remo victory to another sprint victory at the Classic Brugge-De Panne.
Philipsen emerged from the wheels as Sam Welsford (Bora-Hansgrohe) charged ahead with the finish line in sight, but the Belgian rider’s speed was simply too much for the Australian.
Danny van Poppel (Bora-Hansgrohe) was third after having to chase back from a near mishap with 10km to go.
As he made his way to the front along the barriers, Philipsen clashed with Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quickstep) and both riders had to stop pedalling but both, fortunately, stayed upright.
Philipsen got back up to speed first and was able to dash to the right to get around Van Poppel, out-sprint Merlier, and celebrate his third win of the season.
Speaking after the finish, Philipsen described his win. “I had a lot of positions to make up in the last corner and I got on Tim Merlier’s wheel,” he said. “I tried to go past on the left and the gap was really small.
“I went shoulder to shoulder with Tim – a bit of a…
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