"Everything hurts more at the end of the season" - Win number 17 for Jasper Philipsen at Tour of Turkey

Jasper Philipsen just can't stop winning. Today marked his 17th win of the year, matching those of Tadej Pogacar, as he sprinted to victory for the second consecutive time at the Tour of Turkey.

Today was a significantly more difficult win to take for the Belgian however, as the hilly profile and tough drag to the line made it much more than just about pure speed. “Cees rode a strong sprint, but it was still a long way to the finish. I knew there would be an acceleration, but not that it would happen this quickly," Philipsen said in a post-race interview.

Several attacked stringed out the peloton in the final kilometers but the terrain was not hard enough to prevent a sprint. With 5% gradients to the line however, it was anything but a pure dash to the line. Cees Bol launched an early sprint that was tremendously powerful, but the race leader managed to respond.

"When the finish came in sight, I felt that I still had extra power in my legs," he explains. Philipsen caught the Dutchman and managed to edge him to the line to extend his race lead. "It's always nice to win like this, and I'm happy that I was able to beat Cees. It was a particularly tough finish and really at the limit for me. Although everything hurts more at the end of the season."