"After 11 days not going as deep" - Jasper Philipsen struggled through third sprint victory

Jasper Philipsen is a proven winner and at this Vuelta a Espana he has already taken three triumphs. Once again, Alpecin-Deceuninck provided the perfect leadout for the Belgian, who didn't miss when he had a chance to strike big in Guijuelo.

"It was really really tough finish line, definitely after 11 days not going as deep, it hurt," Philipsen admitted in a post-race interview. "We knew it was going to be like, final 250 meters more flat... But before the team did an amazing pull and amazing timing towards the last kilometer and it was just a final kilometer all-out".

The stage was rather uneventful, but there was still the need to stay attentive to potential echelons in the crosswinds, which did happen, but ultimately did not affect Philipsen's team. The team did not burn any bullets until the final kilometer, where their three men surged to the front.

"Of course it's definitely a team job. All Vuelta already the team was super strong, also Jonas [Rickaert] and Edward [Planckaert] were riding super fast, super good. I was struggling in the wheel but I saw the finish line and pushed through, and it was nice".

The race by no means has the uncertainty that it will end this Sunday safely in Madrid, but if it does there's no reason why he won't be the man to beat, taking into consideration the past bunch sprints and how no-one has gotten the same pure speed as Philipsen.

"Of course with this team we try to keep the winning flow going, the guys are really experienced and they are the best at this job and we just try to repeat it on Sunday, it's the last day and it's been a tough three weeks," he concluded with a smile on his face.