Déjà vu as Philipsen bounces back from Tour crash to strike early at Vuelta
Just like at the Tour de France, Jasper Philipsen is the first leader of the Vuelta a España after his win in Novara on stage 1. But this victory is all the more remarkable given the Belgian's rapid recovery from the injuries that forced him to abandon the Tour.
Déjà vu all over again. After powering into the yellow jersey on the opening day of the Tour de France, Jasper Philipsen repeated the feat by sprinting to victory on stage 1 of the Vuelta a España in Novara.
The Belgian has achieved the notable feat of wearing the leader’s jersey in two Grand Tours in the same season, and his victory here was all the more remarkable given what befell him just two days after the high of his Tour de France triumph.
Philipsen suffered injuries, including a broken collarbone, in a horrific crash on stage 3 of the Tour. He abandoned the race, and he initially downplayed the prospect of recovering in time for the Vuelta.
After returning to action at the Tour of Denmark, however, Philipsen opted to line up at the Vuelta, and he duly cruised to an emphatic victory in Novara, the first of three days in Italy on this year’s race.
“Winning is always a nice feeling and when there’s a reward like a jersey, of course it’s a nice present,” said Philipsen.
“After my crash in the Tour, I was really disappointed to be out, because I’d worked a really long for it and it was a major goal. So then, yeah, it was a setback. But you have to find new goals, and this was a nice goal. But I know that we only had one chance, because there’s not many opportunities for a sprinter like me on this Vuelta. It will be tough.”
Philipsen was piloted by Jonas Rickaert and Edward Planckaert in the final kilometre, and perhaps a degree of collective memory for Alpecin-Deceuninck kicked in. The squad scored its first Grand Tour victory on the same stretch of road in Novara on the 2021 Giro d’Italia, when Tim Merlier claimed the spoils. Philipsen’s win here was the team’s 31st, and it continued their sequence of winning a stage in every Grand Tour in which they have participated.
“I really have to thank my teammates again, just like in the Tour,” Philipsen said. “We managed to do our lead-out how we wanted to do. All the team was very strong, but Jonas and Edward. executed perfectly in the final kilometre. I just saw 175m to go and then I had to start sprinting. I’m really happy that, that it worked out for us.
“I already had some bad luck this season, but also some nice victories, with the Tour win and this one. So that makes it very sweet.”
