Jasper Philipsen’s uphill sprint to win Nokere Koerse on Wednesday was striking enough on its own, but what made it stand out even further was the flash of silver on his left foot.
In contrast to the matt white of his right shoe, in which he started and finished the race, his left shoe was a shiny silver replacement he was forced to grab on the fly just ahead of the finale.
That left the remarkable sight of a rider sprinting to victory in odd shoes. And this wasn’t just a colour mismatch; they were different models and so entirely different shoes.
"It doesn't look very good. But it was efficient. It pays off, and maybe it will bring me luck,” Philipsen said.
Philipsen had to make the shoe switch 20km from the finish after trying to avoid a crash and having to put his foot down, damaging the cleat on his left shoe. He didn’t stop to change it, instead taking it off on the fly and handing it to his team car, before taking the replacement and getting his foot in while still on the move. He clipped in with his heel still out of the shoe, but he soon slotted it in, got back to the front of the bunch, and then let his legs do the talking in the sprint.
What’s interesting about the mismatch is that the replacement shoe – the silver number – is the one we’ve grown used to seeing Philipsen using. The white right shoe - and the left shoe he started the race in - appear to be unreleased prototypes.
Philipsen is sponsored by Shimano, and the silver shoe is the S-Phyre SH-RC903S Special Edition we’ve seen him wear to victory in races like Milan-San Remo. The white shoe does not feature any Shimano or S-Phyre branding, and our tech team haven’t come across it before, suggesting it’s an entirely new model that will soon come to market.
In contrast to the SH-RC903S, there is a new retention cable routing, with the two Boa dials placed further apart, the top one wider at the outside of the ankle and the lower one more on top of the forefoot.
Certain aspects tell us that these are almost certainly still Shimano shoes, though, rather than a sponsor-incorrect choice from the sprinter. The outsole resembles that of prior Shimano S-Phyre shoes, as does the placement of the vent holes on the outstep.
