What a difference a day makes, or as they say in Italy, ‘dalle stelle alle stalle’ - from the 'star to the stables’, to indicate a sudden change in fortunes.
On Tuesday, Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) won stage 2 of Tirreno-Adriatico in Follonica by several bike lengths, confirming his success of 2023. 24 hours later, a touch of wheel and a day of suffering in the cold left him bruised and shivering.
Philipsen was one of four riders involved in the crash. The official results identified the Belgian, along with Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers), Alex Zingle (Cofidis), and Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech), as those given the same time as stage winner Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious).
The gradually rising road to the village of Gualdo Tadino was a test for all the sprinters and their teammates. Philipsen was long protected by three Alpecin-Deceuninck teammates but then began to suffer and lost position in the final kilometre. A touch of wheels was then fatal.
“If I’d had top legs, I could have positioned myself better, but I allowed myself to be boxed in,” he explained to the HLN and Nieuwsblad after quickly descending to his team bus.
“If I still had my best legs at that moment, I would have driven through the wind to a better position myself. The fall itself was the result of the wet road surface and the straining to keep position. I don’t think there was contact, but I need to re-examine the images. The bend also turned a little sharper than anticipated.
Philipsen got up to finish the stage and only had superficial wounds.
“The road surface was wet and slippery, so I didn't suffer much more than a graze wound on my elbow,” he said, accepting a bottle of olive oil from a locally based young Flemish couple.
Philipsen was seen underdressed during the stage and admitted, like so many in the peloton, he suffered in the cold.
“I'd been cold all day, it was a long and especially wet day on the bike. At the start, I thought it would remain dry all day, but we cycled at least a hundred kilometres in the rain. I wasn't really prepared for that. By the last kilometre, nobody was at their best.”
Philipsen has a chance to return to his best on Thursday's 207km stage to Giulianova on the Adriatic coast. The stage includes an early climb up to 1,521m so he and the peloton will need to wrap-up and stay warm, but the finish suits the sprinters like Philipsen, who can survive on the climbs in the 22.7km finishing circuit.
“Tomorrow may be a sprint opportunity with a slightly rising finish. I just hope for a dry day,” he said.
