"I am looking for my top form. Hopefully it will be sometime in July" - Jasper Philipsen heads to Tour de France with confidence after sprint win in Belgium

After his supremely impressive display at last year's Tour de France, Jasper Philipsen is heading back to the biggest race on the planet with renewed confidence and optimism after the Alpecin-Deceuninck leader took a dominant sprint win on stage 3 of the 2024 Baloise Belgium Tour.

"Last year the course was a bit more difficult and we also completed more laps; Today it was a bit more of a predicted bunch sprint," reflects the Belgian in his post-stage interview having fired to a dominant win ahead of Olav Kooij in the sprint for the line. "Just like yesterday, we did very well as a team. I'm glad I timed a little better today and was able to finish it that way."

The 26-year-old was forced to settle for second place on stage 2 as Tim Merlier took the win, leaving some to doubt if Philipsen would be as dominant at the upcoming Tour de France as he was last year, when he left the race with the Green Jersey and four stage wins. Despite his disappointment on the prior stage however, Philipsen insists everything is going well in preparation for the 2024 Tour de France.

"Just like yesterday, the leadout went very well. We found each other again in the last kilometre and were able to take the lead. I'm very happy with how things are going. It's also nice that I can thank the team with a victory," he concludes with optimism. "We have worked hard in recent months, so I am looking for my top form. Hopefully it will be sometime in July."

1 PHILIPSEN Jasper Alpecin-Deceuninck 20

2 KOOIJ Olav Team Visma | Lease a Bike 15

3 THIJSSEN Gerben Intermarché-Wanty 10

4 MERLIER Tim Soudal Quick-Step 5

5 DEGENKOLB John Team dsm-firmenich PostNL 3

6 TAMINIAUX Lionel Lotto Dstny

7 MOZZATO Luca ARKEA-B&B HOTELS

8 DUPONT Timothy Tarteletto-Isorex

9 STUYVEN Jasper Lidl-Trek

10 PEDERSEN Nicklas TdT-Unibet