Jasper Philipsen

Jasper Philipsen

File:Jasper Philipsen 2023 (cropped).jpg Philipsen, Gent. Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2023.
Personal information
Full name	Jasper Philipsen
Nickname	Jasper Disaster
Born	(1998-03-02) 2 March 1998 Mol, Flanders, Belgium
Height
Weight	75 kg (165 lb; 11 st 11 lb)
Team information
Current team	Alpecin–Deceuninck
Discipline	Road
Role	Sprinter
Amateur team(s)
2017	BMC Development Team
Professional team(s)
2018	Hagens Berman Axeon
2019–2020	UAE Team Emirates
2021–	Alpecin–Fenix
Major wins
Grand Tours Tour de France Points classification (2023) 6 individual stages (2022, 2023) Vuelta a España 3 individual stages (2020, 2021) One-day races and Classics Classic Brugge–De Panne (2023) Eschborn–Frankfurt (2021) Scheldeprijs (2021, 2023) GP de Denain (2021)

Jasper Philipsen (born 2 March 1998) is a Belgian professional cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Alpecin–Deceuninck. He is a sprinter and won several stages in the Tour de France and Vuelta a España.

Career

Early years

From 2010, Philipsen rode for the Royal Balen BC team. In 2015, he became national junior time trial champion. Later that year, he finished eighth at the European championships in the same discipline and sixth at the world championships. A year later, Philipsen won the Guido Reybrouck Classic and E3 Harelbeke for juniors, and successfully defended his national time trial title. In addition, that year he finished fifth in Paris-Roubaix for juniors and 11th in the Omloop der Vlaamse Gewesten. Philipsen was selected for both the time trial and the road race at the world championships in Doha. After the time trial, in which he set the 18th fastest time, he was taken to hospital exhausted and overheated. Although Philipsen appeared to be physically fine, he did not start in the road race three days later.

File:Saint-Amand-les-Eaux - Paris-Roubaix juniors, 10 avril 2016, départ (B150).JPG

Philipsen at the 2016 Paris-Roubaix Juniors

On 1 April 2017, Philipsen took his first UCI victory in the elite riders, for the BMC Development Team team. In the second stage of the Triptyque des Monts et Châteaux, he stayed ahead of compatriot Milan Menten and Dutchman Maarten van Trijp in the bunch sprint. A day later, thanks to a fifth place in the individual time trial, he took over the leader's jersey from Chris Lawless. In the final stage, he finished fourth, taking not only the overall classification, but also the points and youth classification. After finishing second in both the Tour of Flanders U23 and the ZLM Tour, he won a stage in the Baby Giro in June. In the points classification, he stayed one point ahead of Neilson Powless. In July, he won the second stage in the Tour of Alsace, after which he rode the road race for promises at both the European and national championships. In the fifth stage of the Olympia's Tour, he stayed ahead of Patrick van der Duin and Fabio Jakobsen in the bunch sprint. In October, he won Paris–Tours Espoirs.

Professional career

In 2018, Philipsen became professional at Hagens Berman Axeon. He took several victories that year, including the overall classification of the Triptyque des Monts et Châteaux and a stage in the Baby Giro. In October, he was offered a contract with UAE Team Emirates. Through this team, he made the switch to the World Tour.

Philipsen was named in the startlist for the 2019 Tour de France. He participated in the 2020 Vuelta a España, where he won stage 15. He participated in his second Tour de France in 2021 and while he did not win any stages he had many promising results including finishing on the stage podium a half dozen times. He rode in the 2021 Vuelta a España where he won two stages. He also wore the points classification jersey on several stages, being involved in a battle with Fabio Jakobsen for the jersey, before he decided it had been a successful race and abandoned about halfway through due to a mild fever.

File:Eyc a7ZWYAE-o39 (1).jpg

Philipsen winning 2021 Scheldeprijs

Early in the 2022 season he won the points classification and two stages of the UAE Tour. He then won the points classification and a stage in the Tour of Turkey and a stage in the Tour of Belgium.

He entered the 2022 Tour de France with the team targeting stage wins with both Philipsen and Mathieu van der Poel. Philipsen initially thought that he won stage 4, but it turned out Wout Van Aert had surprised the peloton and attacked while wearing the yellow jersey. After the Alps he got a chance to win stage 15 after the final breakaway rider had been caught inside the final kilometre. He was able to outcharge previous stage winners Van Aert and Mads Pedersen to take the team's first win of the race. His second stage win came on the final day in Paris, winning the sprint by a convincing margin.

File:TDF31914 philipsen (53062522988).jpg

Philipsen wearing the green jersey at the 2023 Tour de France

In March 2023, he won his second World Tour one-day race: the Classic Brugge–De Panne, outsprinting Olav Kooij and Yves Lampaert. Two weeks later, he won Scheldeprijs for the second time. Fine days later, he outkicked Wout Van Aert to take second at Paris–Roubaix. This was his first podium in a Monument. At the 2023 Tour de France, he won stages 3, 4, 7 and 11, all of which were sprint finishes. This led to ultimately win the points classification by over 100 points to second placed Mads Pedersen.

Riding style

Jasper Philipsen is sometimes compared to Tom Boonen by the media, originating from the same region and sharing his profile as a road race-sprinter specialised in the classics.

"Philipsen is not only fast, he also always seems to position himself very well during bunch sprints. We are talking about making good decisions in a split second, while racing at more than 70 km per hour. This also proves he's still in a top condition at those moments. One makes easier mistakes when exhausted."

Eddy Planckaert on Philipsen in 2023

Philipsen is one of the most explosive cyclists of his generation. By 2022, several international specialized media considered him as best sprinter in the world.

He received some criticism for his riding style during the 2023 Tour de France, as he appeared to purposely impede other riders on several stages.

Major results

2015

1st Time trial, National Junior Road Championships

2nd Omloop der Vlaamse Gewesten

3rd Guido Reybrouck Classic

4th La Philippe Gilbert Juniors

4th Paris–Roubaix Juniors

5th Overall Trophée Centre Morbihan

2016

1st Time trial, National Junior Road Championships

1st E3 Harelbeke Juniors

1st Guido Reybrouck Classic

3rd Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne Juniors

5th Paris–Roubaix Juniors

10th Overall Grand Prix Rüebliland

2017

1st Overall Le Triptyque des Monts et Châteaux

1st Stage 2

1st Points classification

1st Young rider classification

1st Paris–Tours Espoirs

Giro Ciclistico d'Italia

1st Points classification

1st Stage 4

1st Stage 2 Tour Alsace

1st Stage 5 Olympia's Tour

2nd Ronde van Vlaanderen Beloften

2nd ZLM Tour

4th Berner Rundfahrt

2018 (1 pro win)

1st Overall Le Triptyque des Monts et Châteaux

1st Points classification

1st Stages 1 & 2

1st Gylne Gutuer

1st Stage 4 Tour of Utah

1st Stage 3 Giro Ciclistico d'Italia

3rd Three Days of Bruges–De Panne

4th Tour de l'Eurométropole

4th Paris–Roubaix Espoirs

5th Dorpenomloop Rucphen

6th Grote Prijs Jef Scherens

7th Grand Prix d'Isbergues

8th Primus Classic

9th Lillehammer GP

2019 (1)

1st Stage 5 Tour Down Under

2nd Grand Prix de Fourmies

2nd Heistse Pijl

3rd Nokere Koerse

3rd Elfstedenronde

3rd Brussels Cycling Classic

5th Dwars door het Hageland

6th Overall Tour of Belgium

9th Scheldeprijs

2020 (3)

1st Stage 15 Vuelta a España

1st Stage 1 BinckBank Tour

1st Stage 3 Tour du Limousin

1st Sprints classification, Tour Down Under

5th Scheldeprijs

5th Brussels Cycling Classic

9th Druivenkoers Overijse

2021 (9)

1st 20px Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen

1st Eschborn–Frankfurt

1st Scheldeprijs

1st Grand Prix de Denain

1st Paris–Chauny

Vuelta a España

1st Stages 2 & 5

Held after Stages 2–3, 5–7

Tour of Turkey

1st Points classification

1st Stages 6 & 7

2nd Classic Brugge–De Panne

2022 (9)

1st Omloop van het Houtland

1st Paris–Bourges

Tour de France

1st Stages 15 & 21

UAE Tour

1st Points classification

1st Stages 1 & 5

Tour of Turkey

1st Points classification

1st Stage 3

1st Stage 4 Danmark Rundt

2nd Münsterland Giro

2nd Gooikse Pijl

3rd Road race, National Road Championships

4th Druivenkoers Overijse

6th Hamburg Cyclassics

6th Rund um Köln

6th Grand Prix de Wallonie

8th Overall Tour of Belgium

1st Stage 2

8th Scheldeprijs

2023 (19)

1st 20px Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen

1st Classic Brugge–De Panne

1st Scheldeprijs

1st Elfstedenronde

1st Gooikse Pijl

1st Paris–Chauny

1st Visit Friesland Elfsteden Race

Tour de France

1st [[File:|20px|link=]] Points classification

1st Stages 3, 4, 7 & 11

Tour of Turkey

1st Points classification

1st Stages 1, 2, 4 & 8

Tirreno–Adriatico

1st Stages 3 & 7

1st Stage 1 Renewi Tour

1st Stage 1 Tour of Belgium

2nd Paris–Roubaix

4th Dwars door Vlaanderen

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Grand Tour	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Giro d'Italia	—	—	—	—	—
Tour de France	DNF	—	109	91	97
Vuelta a España	—	85	DNF	—	—

Classics results timeline

Monument	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Milan–San Remo	—	150	—	—	66	15
Tour of Flanders	—	DNF	—	—	DNF	—
Paris–Roubaix	—	DNF	NH	41	—	2
Liège–Bastogne–Liège	Has not contested during his career
Giro di Lombardia
Classic	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad	—	37	—	124	—	33
Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne	—	24	122	—	—	DNF
Brugge–De Panne	3	—	—	2	—	1
Gent–Wevelgem	—	—	47	38	21	DNF
Dwars door Vlaanderen	—	142	NH	57	29	4
Scheldeprijs	—	9	5	1	8	1
Eschborn–Frankfurt	—	—	NH	1	11	DNF
Hamburg Cyclassics	—	34		—	6	—
Paris–Tours	—	—	—	12	DNF	—

Legend

—	Did not compete
DNF	Did not finish

Honours and awards

• Flandrien of the Year – Best Professional Cyclist: 2023