Alpecin-Fenix's Jasper Philipsen is one of the best and most successful sprinters in the current peloton, despite not being part of a World Tour structure. He has talked about the role of his mentality in sprinting.
"I don't like to lose. It’s how I am. It was always the same when I was young and playing football. When a game didn’t go how I wanted it to be going, I would be crying on the pitch. I had this winning mentality that’s not left me," Philipsen said in an interview with CyclingWeekly.
He added: "At the end of last year I had some nice wins, but I feel like I'm not there yet. I am still capable of doing other stuff as well, which I believe I will. I think I can be happy with last year, but I want to repeat that success, confirm all the wins." Philipsen was by far the most consistent sprinter of 2021 and net a total of nine wins, including in classics, stage-races and Grand Tours, as he took two stage wins at the Vuelta a España. His 2022 started off just as strong with two stage wins at the UAE Tour, and he is looking to replicate his form of last year.
"We're just trying to do everything right, and the competitions are going well recently. I've shown I'm capable of winning, and of course it's always nice when you beat the big names because it means you're doing well. Every sprint you learn something new, but every situation is different so you can take different things from them," he added.
Philipsen is currently at Paris-Nice where hasn't been able to take a stage win. However with the classics looming ahead, he will have new goals ahead.