'Paris-Roubaix is the race I live for' - Philipsen keeps cobbles dream alive

Jasper Philipsen has established himself among the foremost sprinters in the world, but Paris-Roubaix is the race he covets above all others. The Belgian has placed second at the Hell of the North in both 2023 and 2024, beaten on each occasion only by his Alpecin-Deceuninck teammate Mathieu van der Poel.

“It’s a race I truly live for, one that I'm very passionate about, and I even get emotional thinking about it,” Philipsen told Het Nieuwsblad. “I started racing for races like Paris-Roubaix. They’re in line with my DNA and that of the team, and they live in Belgium. I enjoy being able to focus on that. Maybe in a few years, that will shift, and I’ll focus more on sprints because that’s what I’m naturally best at. But nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

Van der Poel has won the race for each of the past three seasons, while Tadej Pogacar, second on his debut in 2025, has emerged as the rider most likely to challenge the Dutchman on the pavé next April and beyond. 

Asked if he could picture himself winning on the Roubaix velodrome in the future, Philipsen said: “Visualising is a strong word, but if you’re going to rebuild your lifestyle and focus to build your fitness for the spring, you need something to help you. Putting on your kit every morning requires a certain perspective, otherwise it’s difficult. That’s the kind of race I do it for.”

Philipsen already has a Monument to his name thanks to his victory at Milan-San Remo in 2024, but he acknowledged that his chances of a repeat on the Via Roma are contingent on whether Pogacar decides to attack from the Cipressa, as he did in 2025.

“Mathieu is also incredibly strong in those kinds of efforts, but riders with my profile just have to hope nothing much happens before the Poggio and then try to survive,” Philipsen said. “If they actually start on the Cipressa, I’ll have to say ‘goodbye.’”

Philipsen won Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne in 2025, as well as stage 1 of the Tour de France, though he crashed out on stage 3. He returned to collect a hat-trick of stage victories at the Vuelta a España, including a win on the opening stage in Turin. In 2026, he will again balance a cobbled Classics campaign with his primary duty as Alpecin-Deceuninck’s lead sprinter.

“It’s difficult, because you have a certain training style that you’ve gotten used to, but after the spring, it suddenly has to change,” he said, adding that he switches from training in a group to training alone. “A sprinter trains either really easily or really hard. When you’re training in such a polarised, black or white, you have to do your own thing more.”