SANREMO – He won at Freire. He was never seen. Always hidden. Covered. Covered even on the finishing straight. But in the end, it was him, Jasper Philipsen, who was the first to cross the white line on Via Roma.
In Belgian of theAlpecin-Deceuninck he was the author of a perhaps invisible, but tactically masterful race. In almost 300 kilometers of race, I ran at a crazy average speed (46.113 km/h), he didn't spend half a pedal stroke more than necessary.
Leg at the top
Few, which is an understatement, considered him among the winners. All eyes were on the duel between Tadej pogacar e Mathieu Van der Poel. If anything the third man could be Mads pedersen. Instead, doing as the little ant said, Philipsen took the Milan-Sanremo number 115.
It was clear that he was doing well at the Tirreno-Adriatico. However, the race of the Two Seas and last Wednesday's third place in "his" Nokere Koerse were misleading.
"Doing the Tirreno was important," Philipsen explains. "I had a cold, then the trip to Belgium, the Nokere, the return to Italy... they didn't help. In fact, I still have a bit of a cold. But since Thursday, I've felt better. I felt like something has changed. And I think I probably had my best legs ever today. If there was a day to win the Sanremo, it was today."
The signs were there
Yet those lost sprints made us reflect on his less than usual start. His usual start would have allowed him to give everyone a bike. Were those "grams" of muscle needed to overcome the Cipressa and Poggio, and do so well? The fact that he was beaten by Milan in Giulianova during the Tirreno led everyone a little astray.
That day, however, if you look at the finish line with a cool head, there were no pure sprinters. Just think, among the top ten were Girmay, Alaphilippe, and Tiberi.
True, Milan won. But let's get back to the starting point. Jasper had climbed the hill like Milan, but then he hadn't had the same power as the Friulian.
«I'm not actually thinner, in fact I weigh more than last year. But I have more power. "Maybe that's why I won," Jasper deflects with a smile... He's certainly worked on that aspect. He said he focused a lot on the classics during the winter.
The cold thing may be true, and the same goes for the weight, but it's clear that Sanremo had prepared differently than in the past. Perhaps because even the team knew that a back-to-back double in VdP would be impossible, and it was still the first race of the season. And perhaps because that 15th place in 2023 had been instilled in him by the worm.
Monument to VdP
It is also true that a monument must be made to his companion, Mathieu Van der Poel. The defending champion, once the count was done at the bottom of the Poggio, put himself completely at his disposal. He pulled hard, but without breaking away. He pulled long after Pidcock and Sobrero's attack and served up Sanremo to him on a silver platter.
"I thanked him for the great job he did," Philipsen said repeatedly after the finish. "It was special, as was the team. I'm proud of them. We regulated ourselves as we raced to take the lead. If I had still been there after the Poggio with good legs I would have sprinted. Plus, having a world champion working for you… I couldn’t go wrong.”
Poggio in apnea
Ma a rider like Jasper is on the Cipressa and even more so the Poggio that really makes the number. At that point, there were very few pure sprinters left in front. In fact, none.
«On the Poggio I had to resist. UAE Emirates He had spent a lot, and we knew Pogacar would leave sooner or later. I tried to stay close. Not to lose sight of them. When the Poggio was finished I said to myself: “Thank goodness!”.
"On the way down, I was afraid of falling, of a hole. But at that point, Mathieu was very good. I asked him not to push too hard. And he did it... even though he was the captain and had the legs to win. Mathieu is truly generous. He likes to win, but he also likes to help the team."
His land
Finally at kilometer 286 Philipsen enters his kingdom: the final stretch on the flat and the sprint. At that point his mind becomes that of a "killer."
«In reality – explains Jasper – precisely I felt the pressure there. I had the world champion working for me. At the beginning of the season, I had missed a few sprints; Matthews and Pedersen were very dangerous, and if you looked at the roll of honor of recent years, there were no sprinters. Of course, it wasn't a great sprint. After such a long and fast race... I think I expressed some amateur values. It was more a sprint of desire, of resistance than of power."
Alpecin-Deceuninck takes home another monument. They now look like the Quick Step of their heyday. Philipsen admits that this happens because, in addition to being strong, they know how to be united in difficult moments.
«I believe that all this is due to our mental strength. After Tirreno there was a click. The victory calmed everyone down. But overall, the team gives us great psychological support. We needed patience, and we had it."
