Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech) claimed a chaotic victory at the second edition of the Copenhagen Sprint, in a race that saw multiple crashes on the final circuit, causing splits in the peloton, and a furious chase to reconnect with a breakaway, which was caught just a few hundred metres from the finish line.
Somehow avoiding the incidents that cut the peloton in half, the Belgian sprinter relied heavily on his teammates to keep him in position on the final straight away, where, once the break was caught, he jumped onto the wheel of Tobias Lund Andresen (Decathlon CMA CGM), making his final kick with just 150 metres remaining to surge past the Dane and take the win.
Andresen was forced to settle for second place while Sam Welsford (Netcompany-Ineos) took third after his team did the lion's share of the work to close the gap to the breakaway on the last lap and set up the final sprint.
"It was tough, really tough to be back in competition after a few months off," said Philipsen, who has not competed since Paris-Roubaix in April.
"Since Roubaix, I was not racing, so it was a bit painful to have the speed in the legs today. The speeds were high today, and on the city-centre course, we were accelerating the whole time. It was tough for the body."
The four riders in the breakaway, who almost made it to the finish line ahead of the sprint, included Anders Foldager (Jayco AlUla), Rune Herregodts (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), William Blume Levy (Uno-X Mobility) and Mads Andersen (Swatt Club), and for a moment it looked as though they might have been able to make it.
A crash with 18km to go split the main field, where several main sprinters were caught behind in the second group. The four riders still carried 10 seconds into the closing kilometres of the race, but running out of road, they were ultimately caught just a few hundred metres to the line as the sprint ignited.
"The [crash] had a big impact on how the race unfolded in the end. It was quite hectic all day. Just like last year, there was a crash in the final lap. That was a pity for the guys who went down and for a nice bunch sprint, but I just hope that everyone is OK from that crash. I'm happy with my shape and how it is going, but it's part of the sport, and I hope that everyone is OK," Philipsen said.
"All the teams contributed well to get the break back. The speed was all day very fast; it felt pretty fast, so the breakaway must have been very strong today."
Philipsen will next line up at the Tour de France, where he said this win will add to his confidence.
"Yes, it gives a lot of confidence. We didn't see that big bunch sprint because of the crash, but I'm happy I could take the win. It's a WorldTour win, so it's important. I'm happy with the shape and finding the last percentages."
Mass-crash on city circuits disrupts the final sprint
The Copenhagen Sprint, now in its second edition, and as the name suggests, is one for the sprinters with a pan-flat 228km from Roskilde and finishing on 10.2km circuits in Copenhagen.
While Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) started the day as the defending champion, he was always going to face tough opposition from the likes of rival sprinters Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep), Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Dylan Groenewegen (Unibet Rose Rockets), Tobias Lund Andresen (Decathlon CMA CGM) and Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Intermarché).
The breakaway of the day emerged in the early stages of the race with Frederik Rodenberg (STARK-Peter Ellegaard Track Team powered by SANA) picking up the intermediate sprint at the 36.5km mark in Frederikssund from the group of five that also included Anders Foldager (Jayco AlUla), Rune Herregodts (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), William Blume Levy (Uno-X Mobility) and Mads Andersen (Swatt Club).
On and off, light rain fell during the race, creating slick conditions and causing early-race crashes involving De Lie and then Manlio Moro (Movistar Team), while Sam Bennett (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling) abandoned the race.
Uno-X Mobility, Lidl-Trek and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe took on the bulk of the pace-setting at the front of the field, holding the gap at a manageable two minutes.
Rodenberg rolled through to take another full set of points in the next intermediate sprint in Ganløse at the 127km mark, but was dropped from the breakaway before reaching the finishing circuits, and eventually caught with 55km remaining.
The four riders continued on, but the gap began to fall to just over a minute as more of the top sprint teams joined in the chase with Unibet Rose Rockets, Alpecin-Premier Tech and Soudal-QuickStep pulling the peloton onto the first lap of the finishing circuits.
Nearing the end of the penultimate lap, the breakaway still had 20 seconds on the chasing peloton, but a crash took down several riders in the field on a tight corner with 18km to go, causing the peloton to split apart.
The main field was then reduced to roughly 30 riders as Alpecin-Premier Tech and Decathlon CMA CGM continued to lead the bunch into the final lap of the race, while the rest of the teams looked around to determine whether and where their sprinters were positioned amid the chaos.
The disorganisation in the main field may have helped the breakaway to hold onto a slim 10 seconds with 4km to go, but the quartet worked well enough together that their gap held into the final corners of the circuit.
As Foldager, Herregodts, Blume Levy and Andersen swung onto the last straightaway, they looked over their shoulders to see the field, led by Netcompany-Ineos, in pursuit, making the catch just before the sprinters launched for the finish line.
Results
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