"I’d rather take a gamble and win than settle for second" - Jasper Philipsen criticises Soudal - Quick-Step for lack of chase at Gent Wevelgem 2025
Cycling
Mads Pedersen soloed for more than 55 kilometres to a stunning Gent Wevelgem win on Sunday afternoon in Belgium. Could the chasing pack have done more to hunt down the Dane though? According to Jasper Philipsen, the lack of impetus from Soudal - Quick-Step is mostly to blame for the disrupted and disorganised chasing of Pedersen.
"On the final climb of the Kemmelberg, I tried to create a small split. With a small group, it might have been easier to close the gap to Pedersen," recalls the Alpecin-Deceuninck leader in a post-race interview, with quotes collected by Sporza. "Maybe it was a shame that Soudal-Quick Step didn't add another rider to the chase because, in the end, they still did a lead-out for Tim Merlier with just three riders."
For the most part, it was Philipsen's Alpecin-Deceuninck teammates that led the chase. As they burnt through riders and no one else offered to help though, Philipsen was soon left isolated in the bunch. "At that point, I had no one left because everyone had been used up. I’d rather take a gamble and win than settle for second," said Philipsen. "I would have liked to have sprinted for the podium, but I got boxed in on the left side. Then I let it go. The win was no longer possible, and that’s what we came here for."
At one point it did look like Philipsen could dream of more, as he followed Pedersen's inital move. Sadly though, disaster struck at the most inopportune time with a puncture. "When you see how far he went... truly impressive," Philipsen says of the incident. "It was a very long race with a lot of headwind, so it's a crazy performance to do that on your own."
"On the first pass of the Kemmelberg, I felt good: I could keep up without going beyond my limit. By the end, my best legs were gone, but I think that was the case for everyone," Philipsen concludes. "It would have been a battle of attrition anyway, but you never know how the race would have evolved. The Kemmelberg really took its toll on the legs. I would have liked to have been with them, and maybe we would have had a completely different race. But it didn’t turn out that way."
Read also
Chapeau to Mads Pedersen here today at Gent Wevelgem - criticised at E3, he's gone hard and solo before the Kemmelberg and held off the peloton to retain his 2024 title 👏🇩🇰#GW25 #GWmen pic.twitter.com/ngAliY9spX
— Mathew Mitchell (@MatMitchell30) March 30, 2025
Just in
Play for FREE! Fantasy Tour of Flanders
Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter today!
The climbs of the 2025 Tour of Flanders
Popular news
Latest comments
- if there is an actual weakness in wout even when completely healthy, it’s that he’s in his head too often. this has been pointed out many times by much more acute observers of cycling than ME, certainly. it may be that he’s been like this since he was a little kid. we are who we are. or that he was shaped by having faced van der poel SOOO many times. mvdp has zero second thoughts. he wastes no time at all on doubt. that has, in the past, led him to do some pretty insane things and make mistakes that wout would never have committed. but it also makes him a killer. you can see wout’s split seconds of doubt and hesitation everywhere in their head to head battles. those hesitations spill over into other races at times like dwars, when doubt creeps in. i believe that currently he is still coming back from physical problems due to injuries, but even when he’s full strength the mental game is an area of potential concern, AND potential improvement.OCexile03-04-2025
- Not only the public, just about every analyst and commentator had been piling it on. Under the circumstances I’d even say he’s showing real character. Not sure likeable Tadej would manage as well during a longer rough patch.Mistermaumau03-04-2025
- Took a while but we finally have a more nuanced analysis.Mistermaumau03-04-2025
- If I remember right, it was those same hungry journalists selling us a different story less than a year ago about the bleak future of Dutch (men’s) cycling with no possible successor for MVDP ;-)Mistermaumau03-04-2025
- Good, hopefully Jonas goes also so we get a nice duelvappaxbipmv03-04-2025
- right? i think it’s hungry journalists that fuel this, and i understand the jam they can be in trying to create stories, but you’d hate to think ANYONE is failing to appreciate how RARE someone like van der poel is (or how LUCKY we are to have both mvdp and pog racing at the same time). a little perspective is a good thing…OCexile03-04-2025
- Anyone know how long that 213km ride took? Coz without that the segment speeds don’t reveal anything surprising. If it took him Less than 5h ok but otherwise it was just some interval training for him.Jumpyjohn03-04-2025
- Hinault was even lighter than Pog at 62 kg when he won PR in 1981, beating Roger van Vlaeminck no less (albeit at the fag end of the latter's career), so it can be done.Cooldude03-04-2025
- Having to shoulder too much pressure from the Belgain public too much that he made a tactical mistake. That's what public pressure does to you. Poor Wout! Hopefully, lady luck befalls him soon.
KerisVroom03-04-2025 - If he's very lucky maybe he can podium a Tour one season, I certainly don't believe he can win it, evervappaxbipmv03-04-2025