‘Up until now, I’ve been sprinting purely on instinct. I’m afraid that will be more difficult’ – Jasper Philipsen feels relegation will impact Tour de France campaign

Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) was relegated following a deviation from his line in the final chaotic sprint on stage 6 of the Tour de France in which he finished in second place to Dylan Groenwegen (Jayco-AlUla), but the Belgian rider feels the penalty shifted undue focus on his sprinting.

Speaking in his column in Het Belang van Limburg, Philipsen emphasises that he felt it was the right course of action to apologise to Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), who claimed to be “boxed in” Philipsen in the sprint.