Early-season calendar announced for Tim Merlier and Jasper Philipsen
CyclingSaturday, 12 February 2022 at 09:00
After 2021's success, Alpecin - Fenix are aiming for another strong season and with Mathieu van der Poel for the moment sidelined, both Tim Merlier and Jasper Philipsen will continue having a separate calendar in order to target sprints in multiple races.
Tim Merlier, winner of Giro d'Italia and Tour de France sprints last year, will be doing Tirreno-Adriatico where he won his first World Tour race back in 2020, and before that he'll have a stint in Belgium where he will be defending his Le Samyn title, and Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne. He will be making his season debut next week at the Volta ao Algarve where he should be face-to-face with the likes of Fabio Jakobsen, Mads Pedersen and Pascal Ackermann in the sprints.
Like last year, the two sprinters have very different calendar, and 23-year old Jasper Philipsen will be heading to the UAE Tour and Paris-Nice in the coming weeks. In 2021 he has done both of them but without getting the success he has hoped for in his first months with Alpecin - Fenix, however in the meantime he has gathered nine wins which include the heavily disputed Scheldeprijs, aswell as Eschborn-Frankfurt and two stages at the Vuelta a España, adding to a total of six podium finishes at the Tour de France.
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- it is too simple to base improvement on points alone. Quick-Step lost a lot of points but might gain more wins and are shifting their focus. Juan Ayuso might be addition by subtraction. and Ineos picked up a lot of points. Onley gets a boatload for being 4th in the Tour. but who’s racing for 4th place?!?!?mij11-01-2026
- All very sad. But you seem to be backing the journalists in generally demonising Tadej and canonising Jonas. This article is interesting though, and suggests Jonas is making very good financial decisions, acquiring luxury homes that he and his family are enjoying living in, and staying near family (also now in luxury homes) who can help with the kids. Sounds like a great lifestyle, and not a basis for critising Pog's decisions.Hills3311-01-2026
- Anyone who thinks the Giro is a training camp for the Tour, for Vingegaard, is not right in the head. First of all, he is not Pogacar and secondly, UAE will send almost A team to make Jonas life miserable and make the race difficult. If the danish fisherman competes in Giro, his chances drop from 20 to 2 percent. I also read some foolish statements that the 2026 Tour is against Pogi and I'm dying of laughter. 2026 is the most ideal Tour that Pogi will ever ride. Not a single stage is difficult except 20st. Everything else is made for UAE to control. Every mountain stage has 30-40km of easy terrain before the last climb.NikkoNicco11-01-2026
- it doesn’t matter what Jonas is doing with the houses, the article is trash. and the fact that he is buying houses in Denmark with no criticism makes everyone’s point all the stronger. it is Tadej’s life. he isn’t breaking the law. he can live where he wishes how he wishes. and his “side” isn’t quoted, which especially irks me. it makes it sound as if he is living in Monaco just to cheat taxes. maybe he is there because it is an ideal training base year round. or any other number or reasons. and, it happens to be a good financial decision.mij11-01-2026
- Unbelievably I remember people saying 2024 Pogi was avoiding Jonas by riding the Giro. Seriously why wouldn’t Jonas ride the Giro? Only GT he hasn’t won. It’s a pretty obvious and logical move.mobk11-01-2026
- it must suck to have to admit that the time to win is only going to be a result of someone else’s retirement, not improved skill or speed.mij11-01-2026
- National champs are supposed to be individual events, rider v rider not raced as teams.wipperman9511-01-2026
- National champs are supposed to be individual events, rider v rider not raced as teams.wipperman9511-01-2026
- I assume Plapp will be about as popular as a fart in a gas mask this season on the team bus. What an absolute clown shoe. Attacking his own team-mate with a lap and a half to go, bringing back his rivals with you, then fluffing it yourself to let the other guy win. You’d assume that if they had race radios, the DS would be telling Plapp to stop p*sing on Durbo’s chips, but at the same time you’d also expect a World Tour rider to understand this kind of basic racecraft. Felt like watching Dwars with Nielsen Powless and Visma. Hats off to the winner though, and him sledging his former team for giving him the boot, haha. Unreal scenes.antipodeanpedalfan11-01-2026
- You can write the same article replacing JV with a whole bunch of names. Every race needs competitors and wants the best they can get. Jonas has a Vuelta, 2 Tours and no Giro, you said it yourself so - Go figure. Has he ruled out the Tour? Am convinced if Tadej decides to do the Giro, Jonas won’t cancel, it’s nothing to do with dodging, it’s about deciding for himself and not living for others. Jonas has offered plenty of competition to Tadej, it’s not his only purpose or obligation. Had there not been a Tadej, he’d be considered one of the too 3 GT riders ever, he’s just a bit unlucky not to clearly be ahead of Froome and no other recent rider comes close, though Rogliç might have given him a good run if not in the same team.Mistermaumau11-01-2026
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Have a look at the race schedules for our Belgian sprinters @MerlierTim and @JasperPhilipsen in the coming weeks 🇧🇪🚀 Which of these races are you going to watch? 📺👀
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