Mathieu van der Poel finally leads Jasper Philipsen to Tour win: "I am happy that we are now taking our stage"

In 2023 the Tour de France, and much of the season, was like a dream for Alpecin-Deceuninck but specially for the newly-discovered sprint duo of Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen. But no two seasons are the same and at this year's Tour, the duo had failed to succeed or even come close to a perfect leadout in the race. That happened today, and the World Champion assisted his sprinter to a very important victory.

“I have said a few times that last year almost every sprint was a success and went perfectly, but that is not always the case. Today we were all incredibly motivated. There are very few more chances for us as a team. I am happy that we are now taking our stage," van der Poel said following the team's win to NOS. This was the fourth chance for the Belgian team's train to work, and finally it happened. After two second places - and another, which led to a relegation - van der Poel finally managed to hit the front of the peloton with a few meters to go and lead his teammate to victory.

It was a textbook leadout from Alpecin, a fruit of good legs and experience. “We did a great job with the team by always being very well positioned at the front in the bends. It was tricky and we knew that we had to be at the front there, which also worked out well. The fact that Jasper finally finished it off is perfect".

It was a much needed triumph as the first week put a dent into Philipsen's confidence and was chaotic as Alpecin couldn't function ideally in a peloton where leadouts were simply not functioning in the bunch sprints. "I didn't talk much with Jasper. He shouldn't doubt himself and just go for his sprint when he felt he could," van der Poel concluded.