"I would say this season, yes" - Jasper Philipsen on whether he's the best sprinter in the world

With nineteen wins in 2023, Jasper Philipsen was the most victorious rider in the peloton this year. Understandably, following such a successful year, the Belgian is high on confidence and self-belief.

Many are currently calling Philipsen, the fastest man on two wheels and Cycling News recently posed this question to the man himself. Is he the best sprinter in the peloton today? "I would say this season, yes, if you look at it pure results-wise, but what is being the best sprinter?" Philipsen answers. "It's being the most successful? Or being the fastest?"

The likes of Mark Cavendish, Caleb Ewan and Philipsen's Alpecin-Deceuninck teammate Kaden Groves are among the other fast men in the current peloton but the Belgian notes, sprinting is about more than just speed. "It's also about positioning the right way, being maybe the freshest in the final, looking at how the sprint goes timing-wise, having a great team," he explains. "Some people say: 'You're the fastest' but what is being the fastest? You just ride two-on-two and start sprinting and who is the fastest. But are you the best sprinter there is, it's more than being the fastest, if you understand."

Nowhere was Philipsen's dominance more evident than at the 2023 Tour de France where he won four stages and the Green Jersey. "I think this was my best season I did so far. I'm always there to try to improve and for sure there are also other goals left for next year and the coming years, so looking forward," he recaps. "It's always been a childhood dream to have the green jersey. I was telling it already, like five years ago, that it would be the ultimate goal."

"I wanted to introduce the idea to the team, and we spoke about it a little bit, but it was not a clear plan to go for it from the beginning," Philipsen explains. "For sure somewhere in the back of my mind yes but in the Tour, you always have to see how the first sprint goes and then see how the points are. You have to be in the game for the green, but you cannot say, 'Okay it's a goal from the beginning.' If you miss one sprint or you have bad luck one day you lose so many points and then it can be over already before it really started."