"There will be risks taken" - Jasper Philipsen warns 'crashes are a real possibility' on stage 1 of 2025 Tour de France

For the first time in six years, there is expected to be a bunch sprint for the Maillot Jaune to kick off the Tour de France in 2025. With nine stage wins from the last three years, Jasper Philipsen will be among those hoping to don cycling's most iconic jersey after stage 1, but the Belgian has warned that risks will be taken, and subsequently, crashes are a real possibility.

"First day, and right away a chance at a stage win and the yellow jersey — I’ve only experienced that once before, and back then I wasn’t really in contention for the big prizes," Philipsen says in quotes collected by Het Nieuwsblad ahead of the 2025 Tour de France. "Honestly, it’s already hard enough to get to sleep before a sprint stage. It’s always on your mind, which goes for the whole Tour really. It’s tough to ever truly rest during those three weeks. Your body is constantly on high alert. I already know there will be very few mornings where I can say, ‘I slept brilliantly last night.’”

As already touched upon, the chances for sprinters to wear the Maillot Jaune have grown increasingly rare over recent years, meaning the stakes are incredibly high going into stage 1. "I remember from my youth that Marcel Kittel took the yellow jersey a few times, as did Mark Cavendish — I think it was in 2016. Those are images that stick with you," says the Alpecin-Deceuninck leader. "Sprinters don’t get that many chances to wear yellow. And it might sound silly, but having that yellow jersey, whether it’s sitting in your home cabinet or framed on the wall — I’d like that.”

Taking that stage 1 win and the Maillot Jaune will bring with it some danger however. "There will be risks taken, it will be nervous, and crashes are a real possibility. Especially on those northern French roads," he explains. "Even though they often lay down fresh asphalt before the Tour, it’s probably too expensive to resurface the entire route. So yes, if there are too many crashes, it will certainly stir up controversy again. But what’s the alternative? Never sprint for the yellow jersey again?”

With nine stage wins at the Tour de France already on his palmares, and a Green Jersey win from back in 2023, Philipsen is once again expected to be among the leading contenders for the win in the Points Classification. One of his big rivals, will be Tour debutant Jonathan Milan, someone Philipsen expects to be an immediate success. "He’s a very different rider from the one I was (when he made his Tour debut ed.)," analyses Philipsen. "Milan is older, more mature, and has already proven time and again how strong and fast he is.”

But in a change to the familiar in 2025, there is unlikely to be a chance for the sprinters on stage 21 in Paris. “I’m curious about the atmosphere. Normally, on that final day only the sprinters are still focused. For everyone else, the holiday’s already started. Many teams are eating fries or pizza on Saturday night. That will be very different now," he previews. "There won’t be any champagne either along the way."

"Even general classification riders can still lose seconds on the last day. The relaxed vibe will be gone. And sportingly? In theory, a whole bunch of contenders will be there — Pogacar, Evenepoel… all of them can compete. But what that means for me, I’ll only know that Sunday," the Belgian concludes. "This is the Tour. Whoever is still really strong will handle that climb on Montmartre just fine. Whoever’s at their limit will curse it. No idea which category I’ll fall into in three weeks.”