"It's a pity, especially because Jasper just has the faster legs" - Mathieu van der Poel sprints to second place after Philipsen crashes at the Baloise Belgium Tour

After his brilliant lead-out helped Jasper Philipsen take the opening stage of the Baloise Belgium Tour, Mathieu van der Poel was forced to sprint for himself on stage 2 after Philipsen hit the deck late on.

'We had to decide quickly to go for me in the end. I did the sprint, but it's a pity, especially because Jasper just has the faster legs," said van der Poel in his post-stage interview. The Alpecin-Deceuninck star, put up a brave fight, finishing second but was unable to top Fabio Jakobsen.

"I don't know how he fell, so I'll see how he's doing later," continued van der Poel. "It was very hectic after the last corner. I actually wanted to choose Fabio's wheel anyway, but in the end I trusted our own lead-out. We've come a little too far. That's a shame, but of course I don't know if I would have beaten him otherwise. It's a pity that Jasper didn't get around to sprinting."