Jasper Philipsen ends 109-day victory drought with sprint win at Baloise Belgium Tour

"It was a while ago, huh," Philipsen told Sporza after the finish. "So, I'm really satisfied with this victory. This gives me a lot of courage and confidence. I'm just happy that I managed to pull it off at least once this week." 

The Belgian star sprinter executed a perfectly timed sprint in the final metres to secure the win, putting an end to his 109-day victory drought. The win came as a relief particularly after a near crash in the sprint on the opening stage of the Baloise Belgium Tour in Knokke-Heist.

Philipsen was quick to credit his Alpecin-Deceuninck teammates for their work and comradery in setting up his victory, particularly with their stellar lead-out in the sprint finale.

"Yes, Jonas [Rickaert] was really strong today. We're all starting to come through after our tough training camp, I think. Oscar Riesebeek was also super good today," Philipsen said.

The Alpecin-Deceuninck sprint train nearly became boxed in at a critical point before the kick to the line. "We went on the right, that's always a risk, but suddenly things opened up and I could ride a nice sprint," explained the 26-year-old.

Alpecin-Deceuninck had already made their intentions clear by splitting the race with around 50km to go on the cobbles of the Peulisbaan. Their aggressive tactics paid off brilliantly in the finale with Philipsen taking the win ahead of Juan Sebastián Molano (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Jenno Berckmoes (Lotto).

"The course lent itself well to making the race a bit hard," Philipsen said. "Especially that cobblestone section at 6km from the end was quite tough. It's always nice to break open the race and put the competition under pressure."

The victory also served as redemption for Philipsen after his close call in the previous day's sprint, in which he rather miraculously managed to stay on his bike and avoid a nasty crash, which could have affected his participation at the Tour de France.

"I don't really know what happened," he said of Wednesday's incident. "I don't think I'd be able to do it a second time and still stay upright. It was a misjudgement, but I'm glad it ended well."

Jasper Philipsen will be aiming to put up a fight come July 5, at the Tour de France, looking to add to his account of one green jersey at the Tour.