Jasper Philipsen crashed on the third day of the Tour de France and that was a major disappointment for him and Alpecin-Deceuninck after what had been an absolutely perfect first two days for the team. He is now returning to competition at the Tour of Denmark and has talked about what has happened throughout the past month.
The Belgian rider was part of the front split in the opening stage of the Grand Boucle and with a leadout from Mathieu van der Poel and Kaden Groves, he managed to sprint to victory in Lille to take on the first yellow jersey of the race.
The next day, Mathieu van der Poel won in Boulogne-sur-Mer and the jersey changed hands but not teams. Philipsen was now in green but on the third day of racing he had a touch of wheels in the intermediate sprint and crashed at high speed, ending his race abruptly with a fractured collarbone and ribs. Ever since he has been recovering and building on his form, and his comeback is confirmed.
“Just over a month ago, I crashed out in stage 3 of the Tour, in a split second, everything I’d been working towards was gone. My biggest goal of the year, months of preparation… all over,” the Belgian wrote in an Instagram post.
“It was tough, both physically and mentally. But thanks to the laughter, support, and motivation from friends, I was able to train well these past few weeks and find my way back. Now I’m just grateful to be on the start line again, race-ready for Postnord Danmark Rundt this Tuesday”. He will lead the Belgian team in Denmark in search of a win in the bunch sprints, a very realistic goal if he has good form. His main rivals should be Mads Pedersen and Soren Waerenskjold.