Jasper Philipsen believes close bond with Mathieu van der Poel will serve them both well: "I think we've become mates"

The growing chemistry between Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen sees the Alpecin-Deceuninck duo head to the Tour de France full of confidence and ready to take battle for stage wins.

"We're very compatible now. The team also wants to play that out more. I think we've become mates," Philipsen says of the dynamic between himself and van der Poel to In de Leidestrui. "Mathieu can certainly provide great added value in the sprints. He can draw a line twice as long as the rest. We still have to see how we go about it. It will also depend on the risk and the rides that follow. On the other hand, I know that I can also win a sprint without him."

Philipsen was runner-up in the points classification at the 2022 Tour de France. With last year's Green Jersey, Wout van Aert publicly ruling himself out of the fight this time around, does Philipsen believe the time has come for himself?

"Everything depends on Wout anyway. He can grab so many points along the way in sprints and by sliding along with breakaways that he almost has to slam on the brakes to avoid taking the green," Philipsen answers. "I think the main thing will be to win stages. The intermediate sprints will weigh less. It is a matter of always going full in the final sprint. If you miss a bunch sprint, you lose a lot of points anyway."