Jasper Philipsen claimed his second stage win in the Baloise Belgium Tour on Wednesday. After Knokke-Heist last year, he now celebrated in Scherpenheuvel-Zichem. “It was close to home so there were lots of fans, that makes it extra sweet to win.”
Alpecin – Deceuninck solidified the race early on, a plan that had been conceived in advance. “The course lent itself to offensive racing. At first, we wanted to force the situation in the third lap on the Kruisberg but we went for the element of surprise instead and started a lap earlier.”
The big engine was Mathieu van der Poel. “Mathieu is motivated and in shape. That makes racing lots of fun for us. The fact that he added another lead-out for me at the end, proves that he is fit. It is as if he is just indestructible. Whereas a lot of boys were running out of steam today.”
Philipsen already won in the Euro Shop Elfstedenronde on Sunday and after the victory in Scherpenheuvel-Zichem he has already collected six wins in 2023. “Hopefully, I have not maxed out yet. That should be for this summer”, he said looking ahead to the Tour. “But it was really nice to win here. I am close to home, rode my training routes today and there were many fans.”
