Jasper Philipsen targets big sprint win on home roads: "He will have three chances to win a stage"
Cycling
The rivalry of Jasper Philipsen and Tim Merlier will be the main crowd-drawer of the upcoming Baloise Belgium Tour with no less than two, but most likely three bunch sprints ahead. Alpecin-Deceuninck don't expect miracles in terms of GC, but they hope that Philipsen will give himself a nice confidence boost at the race ahead of Nationals and the Tour de France.
"A good GC at this Baloise Belgium Tour will be very difficult," says sports director Gianni Meersman at Het Nieuwsblad. "We don't really have anyone who will compete for the marbles in the penultimate hilly stage in Durbuy. That is probably where the classification will be decided. The day after, the whole peloton will probably sprint in Brussels and that will more than likely also be the case in Knokke-Heist and Putte in the first and second stage."
"Jasper Philipsen will not lack motivation," Meersman continues. "He will have three chances to win a stage here. The time trial will take place in 'his' Ham, so he will know it there. The distance (9.7 kilometres, ed.) could also speak in his favour, but I fear that in that race against the clock we will have to look at other favourites."
The Alpecin-Deceuninck sprinter took some time off after his Eschborn-Frankfurt abandon, but in his return at the Dwars doors Hageland, he immediately showed a great level. "Philipsen has already completed two races after his altitude camp. Dwars door het Hageland was quite a tough race. Don't forget that he was barely home for a day before he started in Aarschot. In the Elfstedenronde he came very close on Sunday."
In terms of competition, there will be a direct comparison for Philipsen at the Belgian race as he clashes with rival - the European champion Tim Merlier. "Tim Merlier is also at the start and he has the same goals as Jasper. We will see where we end up, but we are already going for a stage win and that can of course be more than one."
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Where Merckx just rode every single race he could and won all the time, Hinault won less often (percentage wise) because he was more judicious in what he raced. His palmares are nuts. He had amazing rivals, one to start his career and another to end it in the grand tours. His classics were solid. What sets him apart from Merckx and Pogačar are that he basically dabbled in the classics while the other two love(d) them. I used to compare Pogačar to Hinault for his grand tour record and occasional classics win, until I realized that the comparison was wrong. Pogačar loves the classics - ah, the memory of his reaction to finishing fourth in a 2 person sprint in Flanders in ‘22: utter domination in any one day race since then, even when he doesn’t win. Hinault lived for the grand tours and I don’t think anyone else will ever reach his record. 10 wins in 13 attempts? Good lord. An amazing rider. Wish there was more footage to watch.RidesHills11-11-2026
- I had no idea about that either.
santiagobenites10-11-2026 - great analysis thanks! appreciate you posting this. I didn't realize CX had a different standard for deviation. this is even more egregious it seems.mij10-11-2026
- As he isn't currently with Red Bull, I guess if he want to race for one more year he needs to find a team. He's 37 so this will be his last year I would guess, unless he wants to race for almost nothing like Froome did.awp10-11-2026
- I think some are making much ado about nothing. Even though Jonas is getting older, before his crash in the Tour, he looked like a solid 2nd all the way home. No one can really climb with Tadej until this year, Eric Mas showed himself which I think was a one off year for him and Paul Seixas has been able to be pretty close to him. Whatever stage race Jonas enters as long as Tadej is not there he is a favorite to win.awp10-11-2026
- Giro or not Giro, he won't win the Tour!MajorPayne10-11-2026
- Very true.awp10-11-2026
- Ciccone had a very strong end of season. Consistently attacking and livening up races. Hope he makes that last leap in progress and starts notching some significant wins. Great rider to watch.Occam10-11-2026
- Me too!!!!!Occam10-11-2026
- they can sign any 100 of top riders today but Pogi will win over Remco any time at the TDF unless something goes wrongabstractengineer10-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment