Jasper Philipsen dreams of being Zabel or Freire at Milano-Sanremo: "It's worth a try, I'll try to survive the attacks on Cipressa and Poggio"
Cycling
Jasper Philipsen faces Milano-Sanremo 2024 in a very different way than the great sprinters of a decade ago. Long gone are the days when riders like Erik Zabel or Oscar Freire dominated the race. The Belgian is aware that the main asset of Alpecin-Deceuninck is not him, it is Mathieu van der Poel, but that does not stop him from dreaming of winning.
"I will try to survive the attacks on Cipressa and Poggio and see how far I can go. I have few options but I'll try to have a chance," Philipsen told CyclingPro.net yesterday during the team presentations. "There can only be one winner and if I'm at the right time in the right place, why not." The Belgian will be a protected rider, and hopefully for him a sprint scenario would come to be where he'd be able to fight for the win.
Obviously, he had to be asked about the chances of Van der Poel, who is going into the race without having raced a single race in 2024. Logically, he thinks his teammate has a chance of winning:
"Everyone knows that Mathieu prepares everything very well, he is a champion, of course he can win." However the presence of van der Poel could provide Philipsen with a position where he can then benefit from the work behind - as was the case at last year's Paris-Roubaix.
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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- the headline is poorly written too. it makes it sound like their plan is to simply wait until he stops.mij13-11-2026
- It doesnt take a genius to understand that Pogi is 1 level above and Pogi is younger that Jonas, so Jonas will not win under ordinary circumstances. Pogi has to crack hard for Jonas to win. It doesn't matter whether you defend Jonas or not , facts remain facts. Jonas himself says his numbers are better than 2022/2023, so Jonas is more or less optimized and we are just see the stochastic variation due to other factors. I think he will retire along with Pedersen in WC denmarkabstractengineer13-11-2026
- They only raced each other during the 2026 Tour, but here's a few metrics to look at. Stage 3 (Granollers to Les Angles): Pogačar won the stage, finishing 2 seconds ahead of Vingegaard (2nd). Del Toro finished 24 seconds behind Stage 6 (Pau to Gavarnie-Gedre / Col du Tourmalet): Pogačar won solo, Vingegaard finished 2nd (losing 2:38), and Del Toro finished 3rd (at +2:57, finishing 19 seconds behind Vingegaard). Here, Jonas Vingegaard outclimbed Isaac del Toro by 19 seconds on the mountain stageawp13-11-2026
- your clinging to the past. Jonas was dropped by del toro many times last year and jonas never managed a climbing numers del toro did in dauphine last year -entire year. Trend is also evident theres no discussion your living in the past, its beent he same with jonas for many years now and only developing, meanwhile del toro is rising and developing greatly. This is all obvious stuff and im not even a del toro fan. No point discussing numbers or this i suspect you dont watch much now but rather think its 2022 still cause this aint hard.miguel13-11-2026
- We can go through metrics if you like, Del Toro, who I do admire and support, is not on the same level as Jonas just yet. You will see that in early 2027 if they have any crossover races. I do hope they both race the Giro. You are correct though, Jonas is getting older and will not be able to hand on much longer. I see 2027 as a good year for him. Obviously behind Tadej though.awp13-11-2026
- What wins? Are you LA operating under a pseudonym?mij13-11-2026
- My point is this - Tadej, Remco, Seixas are all the outliers. Many riders don’t hit their peak until 28. It’s way too early to write him off. And the pogi slo guy that hates him - he’s also immature. Ayuso needs time.mij13-11-2026
- Then you need to use ur eyes or head if you have cause del toro already dropped jonas two times and beat him in tdf stages already this year.. Del toro climbed(dauphine) better numbers than jonas did all year too. So ur feelings and wishful thinking doesnt amtter del toro himself has already surpassed jonas infact just facts. Its also very evident for anyone objective that Jonas is declining alot, its just the truth and super obvious.miguel13-11-2026
- None of those victories stand, so there's that,wrsty13-11-2026
- No surprise there; it is British Sycling, yes, with an S
Rafionain-Glas12-11-2026
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🇧🇪 Jasper Philipsen isn't sure in which team he'll ride next year. 🗣️ "I said to my manager that the next 4/5 years will be my strongest, so I hope to find a team in which I can give it my all. It's possible I stay with Alpecin, but other teams are interested as well." (HLN)
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