Jasper Philipsen criticises 'American-style' Tour de France: Unchained coverage

Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) has criticised the sensationalist coverage and portrayal of riders such as himself in Netflix's cycling docu-series, Tour de France: Unchained. The cycling version of the popular Netflix series 'Drive to Survive' (Formula 1) releases its third and final season on Wednesday, 2nd July, just a few days before the 2025 edition kicks off. It's fair to say that Philipsen won't mind the fact that the American streaming service hasn't renewed the series for a fourth season.

"The makers, in American style, are looking for sensation to boost the viewing figures," Philipsen said in an exclusive interview with HLN. "Such things are zoomed in on because they provide promotion and reaction. We [the team] do not get a preview, while it does determine your name and image to a certain extent."

The Alpecin-Deceuninck sprinter also gave his view on the new yellow cards system that has been introduced in an attempt to make sprints safer, although Philipsen hasn't felt the major benefits from it yet, citing a lack of consistency with the race officiating at the Baloise Belgium Tour as an example.

"What is yellow and what isn't? It's sometimes hard to determine," Philipsen said to HLN. "After the crash at the end of the second stage of the Baloise Belgium Tour, Davide Bomboi was punished. While that boy had done nothing wrong. He only avoided Jonas Rickaert, who dropped out after his lead-out. He just cycled around him - what else was he supposed to do? Hop, yellow. Unjust and unnecessary."

Looking ahead to the Tour de France, which begins in Lille on July 5, with the opening stage presenting an opportunity for the sprinters to take yellow, Philipsen remains calm about his chances of early success, and mentioned the importance of the sprints later on in the race as being important for the points classification battle.

"I myself have to rely more on the sprints in the second and third week of a long, gruelling Tour. In that sense, the green [jersey] story may sound a bit more realistic."

Philipsen also reflected on the sometimes unpredictable nature of professional cycling, where form and results can dramatically fluctuate. The Belgian sprinter ended a 109-day drought by winning stage 2 of the Baloise Belgium Tour in mid-June, and will look to build on the confidence gained from said result towards the Tour de France.

"It's sometimes strange, isn't it. You can get into a flow where everything falls into place and things seem to go by themselves," Philipsen said.

The Belgian sprinter is a nine-time stage winner at the Tour de France, tied with compatriot Wout van Aert, with Tadej Pogačar being the only active rider with more (17). Philipsen also claimed the points classification in 2023, and the Belgian will be motivated to reach similar heights in the 2025 edition alongside his Alpecin-Deceuninck team, which is set to also feature Mathieu van der Poel.