‘I was a bit exhausted in the final stages’ – Bad luck spoils defending champion Jasper Philipsen’s day in Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne

As things played out, when the crunch moments came, Philipsen was already lacking his key lead-out man from last year, Kaden Groves.

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That might not have mattered given his own promising show of strength mid-race. Philipsen managed to remain in the running when other top sprinters such as Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) were dropped well before the finish, but the effort left Philipsen with little left for the sprint.

The Belgian star finally placed a low-key 18th in the dash for the line in Kuurne, well out of the running, and any hopes that he would be able to score his first victory on home soil were dashed.

“I was quite exhausted in the final stages; it was a tough race,” Philipsen told reporters after stopping in the mixed zone. “I had a good feeling, but my sprint just wasn’t quite there.”

“I had followed Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe sprinters because I was counting on their strong lead-out. But they got boxed in on one side of the road, and my legs weren’t fresh anymore, either.

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“So in that final sprint in the headwind, I just couldn’t do anything.”

Still more factors had piled up against Philipsen, it turned out, including a late bike change after a puncture.

“That was unlucky, but I had a good feeling. I even came back after that bike change and knew there was a headwind in the final part of the race. “

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“But then I was a bit too far back as we reached the last kilometre, and then it was impossible to get through because there was a lot of stuff going on on that side of the course. So the sprint didn’t go as I wanted.”