It’s hard to argue with Alpecin-Deceuninck team manager Christoph Roodhooft’s pronouncement that “Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen are probably the best sprint combo in the world right now”.
In Nogaro, just as they did in Bayonne, Van der Poel and Philipsen combined to give Alpecin-Deceuninck two sprint wins from two in the 2023 Tour de France. Philipsen is actually four from four, having won the last two sprint finishes of the 2022 Tour de France.
The sprints were very different but the outcome was the same: Van der Poel took over from his teammates inside the final kilometre and manoeuvred Philipsen into the perfect position for him to launch his winning sprint. In both cases every other sprinter was left fighting for the wheel and the sprint breadcrumbs as Alpecin-Deceuninck cleaned up.
Van der Poel and Philipsen are special riders but neither would have won without the other; the strongest cyclocross and Classics riders in the sport combining with currently the fastest finisher in the peloton to devastating effect.
“No other rider could probably do what Mathieu did in the final, either technically or physically. He did something special again, just like he did in Bayonne,” Roodhooft said in praise.
“Netflix called Philipsen ‘Jasper the disaster’ but we need a new nickname for him now.”
Someone on social media quickly dubbed him ‘Jasper the faster’. Van der Poel has been named the Tour de France MVP.
Surviving and thriving in the sprint chaos
The quiet-spoken Belgian from northern Flanders has twice beaten all his sprint rivals and also pulled on the green points jersey, confirming he has likely even stepped up from 2022 when he won two stages at the Tour, including on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.
“I'm just really happy and proud to have such a strong team and lead out. Even in a fucked-up situation we managed to arrive in the front and be able to sprint for the victory,” Philipsen said of the crash-affected final and high-speed sprint to the line.
"That's only possible when you have a strong team like that behind you. It's a privilege for me to have Mathieu as the last man. I think not many other guys can say that."
In Bayonne Van der Poel led Philipsen out of the scrum of sprinters so he could hit the front in the final curve of the chicane finish and close the door on Wout Van Aert and anyone else.
On the high-speed twists and turns of the Paul Armagnac motor racing circuit in Nogaro north of Pau, Philipsen lost Van der Poel’s wheel, found it again and then was dragged up past Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) and Fabio Jakobsen (Soudal-QuickStep), with Van der Poel bumping and bouncing his way through to the front and Philipsen hanging onto to his coat tails for the fast ride to the final 200 metres.
Two hours after their winning sprint, it emerged that Van der Poel had been fined 500 Swiss Francs and relegated from 16th to 22nd for his heavy use of the elbows. Yet nothing could dampen his personal satisfaction, with Roodhooft happy to pay for the misdemeanour.
“It almost feels the same as winning myself. It's really nice,” Van der Poel said after hugging Philipsen to celebrate their second victory and then warming down with a huge smile on his face at his bus.
“I like to do lead outs, especially when Jasper can finish it off every time if I drop him in position perfectly, that's nice.”
Yet Van der Poel admitted they had been far from perfect, with him improvising and turning on the turbo-charges to drag Philipsen to the front.
“We had a plan but it was impossible to execute it,” he admitted.
“For a long time we were in the bunch following the guys and hoping to find a gap at the right moment. It was super difficult to get up front so we had to adapt. Fortunately I managed to find a small gap to do my leadout for Jasper.”
Kittel impressed by modern two-rider combo
Van der Poel and Philipsen made their two from two sprint wins sound so easy. They weren’t. The combination of a cyclocross star and Classics winner combining with a fast sprinter is a new phenomenon of this generation.
As the sprint finishes have gotten faster and more complex, with a wider generation of sprinters able to win, the best teams have adapted to survive and thrive.
Full lead out teams are cumbersome and overly complex. In the chaos of the modern peloton, a two-rider combo seems the best option, with Van der Poel and Philipsen currently the best in the world and a considerable step above their rivals.
“I think it's not the first time we’ve seen a legend of the sport working for his sprinter,” former Tour de France sprinter Marcel Kittel – who has 14 stage wins at the Grand Tour to his name – suggested to a group of media at the Tour de France, including Cyclingnews.
“Van der Poel is arguably the most expensive leadout guy that you can have but he’s impressive. He's incredibly strong and really loves doing it.
“They waited until the last kilometre to move up and that says a lot about their strategy, about their understanding of each other, they trust in each other. That's something that you need to win sprints and other teams don’t seem to have it at the moment. It’s a huge advantage for them.”
