Jasper Philipsen confident ahead of Scheldeprijs - "We have everything that could help us win"

Alpecin-Deceuninck come with a few weapons towards Scheldeprijs. Mathieu van der Poel provides the team with a big card to use in case the race explodes in the final cobbled sectors, but most likely Jasper Philipsen is the sole leader. The Belgian was confident ahead of the Belgian classic.

“This is indeed a beautiful classic, but all races are important. I'm not especially stressed for this race. This is also a great race for Mathieu. It is a home race for him and he is therefore extra motivated," the 25-year old said ahead of the start in Terneuzen.

Winner of two stages at Tirreno-Adriatico, the Classic Brugge-De Panne and fourth at Dwars door Vlaanderen, its safe to say Philipsen is on a good run of form. The leaders of Alpecin-Deceuninck have began performing strongly in the month of March and here they seek another high-level win. Philipsen has proven to be well dealing with the cobbles, but in a bunch sprint his chances will be as high as anyone else in the field, as he's proven to be great at positioning, but does feature the support of the likes of van der Poel and Ramon Sinkeldam.

“We have a very strong team... We have everything that could help us win. It's a great opportunity and hopefully whoever can take it," he concluded. Despite the good form and the speed he will have no easy task, as he faces the likes of Fabio Jakobsen, Dylan Groenewegen and Caleb Ewan in the expected bunch sprint.