Van der Poel, Philipsen combine to create powerful Tour de France sprint train

Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen are convinced they can combine perfectly to win sprint stages at the Tour de France, with Van der Poel also ready to fight to survive on the hilly opening stage around Bilbao and try to take the first yellow jersey of this year's race.

Van der Poel is arguably the most versatile Classics rider in the peloton after his victory at Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix but he is ready to be Philipsen's lead-out man.

"The Classics were really good for me and for the team. I had good preparation for the Tour de France, too, and so I want to be part of the success of the team this year, with Jasper and hopefully myself," van der Poel said in a joint, sit-down press conference with his teammate before the team presentation on Thursday.

"I hope for the same outcome as in 2021 (when he won stage 2 and wore the yellow jersey for a week). The opening stages in the Basque Country are harder and so it will depend on the race situation. I'll give it a try and we'll try to follow the real puncheurs.

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"We did the last 50km today and it's really hard, it's at the limit of what I'm capable of doing. After the last steep climb, there's some time to come back if you can't follow the best guys. But the last 500 metres of the stage are quite hard, too. It'll be a really difficult stage for me but we'll give it a shot."

Alpecin-Deceuninck have built their team to win stages and sprints with Van der Poel and Philipsen. They have trusted lead-out rider Ramon Sinkeldam, Quinten Hermans and former stage winner Søren Kragh Andersen in their eight-rider lineup.

Philipsen was portrayed as 'Jasper Disaster' in the Netflix Tour de France: Unchained series after he struggled to win a stage early in the 2022 race. He then won in Carcassonne on stage 15 and on the Champs Élysées, to confirm his sprinting credentials and dispel the made-for-streaming narrative that Netflix pinned on him.

He shrugged off the way he was portrayed and has already won six times in 2023, including at the Scheldeprijs. He is now one of the best sprinters in the sport, with a strong team to help him, rather than a disaster.

"We have a good team for the sprints and I'm confident I can win a stage," Philipsen said.

"We've sprinted against all our opponents, so we can be confident. But this is the Tour de France, we're at the highest level, so we have to be on the top level ourselves."

Van der Poel had a poor Tour de France in 2022 after finishing the Giro d'Italia with a stage win and three days in the maglia rosa, the fatigue surprisingly striking one of the most aggressive riders in the peloton.

He is convinced is back to his best for this year's Tour.

"I feel completely different to last year. Then, in preparation, I felt that something was not right with my body. This year I had a good altitude camp and some good racing, so I feel ready to do a nice Tour and be ready for the Worlds afterwards."

Van der Poel seems to relish working as Philipsen's last lead-out rider. He combined with Philipsen to help Tim Merlier win stage 3 of the 2021 Tour de France.

"Most of the time I'll be the last man, maybe not every time but when I feel good, I'll be there for Jasper as the last guy," he said, ready to give up his natural leadership role for his teammate.

"I think we've proven we know what to do in a Tour de France sprint. We're pretty confident we can do our own thing in the sprints. As Jasper said, we have a few strong guys in the team before it's my turn, so I think a good sprint train can help him win a stage."

Van der Poel will target the hillier stages, where a reduced sprint is likely. There is no rivalry with Philipsen.

"I think we'll partly target the same stages. Jasper has shown he is capable of winning and it's always better to be in front with a teammate than being alone, so we hope to play those two cards," Van der Poel concluded.