For much of the sprint, Jasper Philipsen looked out of contention. But as sprints often go, riders can appear out of nowhere—and the Belgian delivered. With a bold move past Elia Viviani, Philipsen surged ahead to take his second stage win of the 2025 Vuelta. Relief was evident at the Flame of Ham after several punishing days in the mountains. “We suffered in the mountains to get here,” Philipsen said, beaming after the finish.
The stage briefly mirrored the chaos of stage 4, when Philipsen had been trapped behind his own lead-out. Once again, he found himself boxed in during the final sprint. Classic.
Determined not to repeat the mistake, he seized a gap between Viviani and the barriers, ultimately sliding through to victory. “We won, so we have no reason to complain,” he said to Sporza. “But I did lose the wheel of my teammate.”
“They did another great lead-out, only I wasn’t there. I tried to communicate, but that is of course difficult in the final kilometre,” he said.
Philipsen added that he had to navigate the wind on his own, with his legs feeling like concrete. Even so, he proved fastest in the sprint. “Yes, luckily I was just able to win. I am very happy, also because the work of the team was not in vain.”
The victory marked Philipsen’s 15th Grand Tour stage win. “But every victory in the Giro, Tour or Vuelta remains special,” he noted. “You often suffer in the mountains to get here.”
Looking ahead, he acknowledged that the Vuelta will become more challenging, with few sprint opportunities remaining. “From now on it will indeed be a difficult Vuelta, but two victories always make it a little easier.”
Hopefully the sprinters enjoyed the flat day—things get brutal from here. Stage 9 runs from Alfaro to Estación de Esquí de Valdezcaray (195.5 km) with a summit finish that no sprinter will like. While the GC contenders battle, the fast men will drop into the gruppetto and do some math to make the time cut—they all will, they’re pros.
The race will be live on FloBikes, and Canadian Cycling Magazine will provide a full report after the Vuelta a España. There are multiple brutal stages coming up!
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