It’s hard to argue with Alpecin-Deceuninck team manager Christoph Roodhooft’s pronouncement that “Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen are probably the best sprint combo in the world right now”.
In Nogaro, just as they did in Bayonne, Van der Poel and Philipsen combined to give Alpecin-Deceuninck two sprint wins from two in the 2023 Tour de France.
The sprints were very different but the outcome was the same: Van der Poel took over from his teammates inside the final kilometre and manoeuvred Philipsen into the perfect position for him to launch his winning sprint. In both cases every other sprinter was left fighting for the wheel and the sprint breadcrumbs as Alpecin-Deceuninck cleaned up.
Van der Poel and Philipsen are special riders but neither would have won without the other; the strongest cyclocross and Classics riders in the sport combining with currently the fastest finisher in the peloton to devastating effect.
“No other rider could probably do what Mathieu did in the final, either technically or physically. He did something special again, just like he did in Bayonne,” Roodhooft said in praise.
“Netflix called Philipsen ‘Jasper the disaster’ but we need a new nickname for him now.”
Someone on social media quickly dubbed him ‘Jasper the faster’.
Surviving and thriving in the sprint chaos
The quiet-spoken Belgian from northern Flanders has twice beaten all his sprint rivals and also pulled on the green points jersey, confirming he has likely even stepped up from 2022 when he won two stages at the Tour, including on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.
“I’m just really happy and proud to have such a strong team and lead out. Even in a fucked-up situation we managed to arrive in the front and be able to sprint for the victory,” Philipsen said of the crash-affected final and high-speed sprint to the line.
“That’s only possible when you have a strong team like that behind you. It’s a privilege for me to have Mathieu as the last man. I think not many other guys can say that.”
In Bayonne Van der Poel led Philipsen out of the scrum of sprinters so he could hit the front in the final curve of the chicane finish and close the door on Wout Van Aert and anyone else.
On the high-speed twists and turns of the Paul…
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