"He'll keep coming back as long as he doesn't win": Philipsen knows Pogacar will never stop trying for Sanremo and Roubaix

Jasper Philipsen was one of the main protagonists of the 2024 Classics campaign with a victory at Milano-Sanremo and a runner-up result from Paris-Roubaix - his second time finishing runner-up to his leader Mathieu van der Poel. But the 2025 season was a disappointment for the versatile sprinter who now looks forward to bounce back in the coming weeks. Ideally with a victory as soon as at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad - a race Van der Poel skips in 2026.

But what we've learnt from the Volta ao Algarve this past week is that, in order to reach his prime, Philipsen will probably require more than just a week of training as the 27-year-old struggled to show his full speed against Paul Magnier or Jordi Meeus. Both will be his challengers also on home roads of Omloop. Regardless of the outcome of the Portuguese race, Philipsen is not worried:

"The feeling is generally good," he told cycling journalist Daniel Benson. "I've had a long training camp in preparation for the classics. Here, we lacked some momentum and explosiveness to finish it off. The result we were hoping for hasn't arrived, but we have bigger goals in mind."

However an early victory would definitely put Philipsen's mind in more ease before the main block of this spring. "It does take the pressure off a bit, but the team knows what they're doing, and we're confident we're on the right track. All the signs are good, but a good result would have been nice for morale."

With Philipsen's Classics pedigree, he could easily aspire for a leadership role at most teams, but that's not the case at Alpecin - Premier Tech. At the Belgian team, roles are distributed differently - and Mathieu van der Poel always comes first.

"If Mathieu starts, there's a clear leader," Philipsen is clear. "He can attack solo, and that puts a lot of pressure on other teams, creating a different dynamic. But in the past, we've shown that we complement each other well and understand each other well. We'll see how the race develops. With Mathieu, we can put on an attractive race. It might be a bit more defensive, but we have a lot of possibilities."

Philipsen hopes for a second victory in Milano-Sanremo, but he prefers to look further ahead in the year. "My big goal is probably Paris-Roubaix. It's one that will always be important. It's a race I dream of, and it's great to be at the front and fight for the win. But it's also a race where you need a bit of luck."

There's no doubt that the main challenger of the Alpecin duo will be Tadej Pogacar. The Slovenian was already able to prevail twice at the Tour of Flanders, however Van der Poel has been his Milano-Sanremo cryptonite for a few years now; either winning the race himself twice, or ensuring Philipsen's victory in 2024. Paris-Roubaix remains a bit of unexplored area as a mistake in crucial moment cost Pogacar a chance to challenge Van der Poel for the victory last year.

"As long as Tadej hasn't won Roubaix and Sanremo, he'll keep trying," Philipsen is confident. "One of his big goals is to win all the Monuments, so he'll always be there as long as he doesn't. He plays a major role in how the race goes and how beautiful it is, but the same goes for Mathieu."

Pogacar has been unable to triumph at the Hell of the North in 2025, but he immediately showed he has the qualities needed to win the race in the future. Although Philipsen would rather win himself: "If Pogacar had won Roubaix, I don't think he would be so quick to return in the future," he jokes.