Jasper Philipsen misses sprint for fourth at Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne: "Of course I would have liked to have sprinted, but I'm glad I didn't fall"

Jasper Philipsen did not have a very enjoyable Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne. The Belgian just couldn't keep up when the group with winner Wout van Aert broke away in the hilly section, and in the sprint for fourth place the Belgian almost crashed.

Philipsen described how he was held up by the fall. "One fell in front of me, he flew into the barricade and his bike was catapulted back into the peloton. Girmay fell before me. I stood completely still and was just able to stay upright."

The sprinter was not very disappointed with the course of the final kilometer. "It wasn't for profit. Those three guys were exceptional today, but my legs said no, you have to respect that. Of course I would have liked to have sprinted, but I'm glad I didn't fall."

Yet the 25-year-old Belgian is optimistic about the rest of the classics season. "I was just not good enough to compete with the very best. I was in the group behind that, so the level is certainly not bad. I think it can only get better," he concluded.