Jasper Philipsen

The world’s fastest sprinter. A Monument winner. Green Jersey owner. Twice on the Roubaix podium in two years. Is there anything Jasper Philipsen can’t do?

“I can also win without him, but with him it's a lot easier."

At the 2023 Tour de France, Jasper and team mate Mathieu van der Poel formed an almost unstoppable tandem in the sprints. For three of Jasper’s four wins, MVDP launched rocket ship leadouts to send his sprinter stratospheric.

Jasper was keen to prove to critics that it wasn’t all down to his team mate, however:

“I think my fourth stage was the nicest to win, the last one,” he says. “That's because there was a lot of pressure and commentary from outside of the team. A lot of people were saying he can't do it without Mathieu [van der Poel] or he can't stay on his own line or whatever. I think the win erased that completely.”

The duo are a formidable force in the classics too. At Paris-Roubaix in 2023, Jasper marshalled behind as MVDP went off the front. He did the same in 2024, while just a few weeks earlier, Mathieu had pulled the race back together on the run-in to the finish at Milan-San Remo, allowing Jasper to contest – and win – the sprint.

“What Mathieu did in the final was an incredible job and yeah I’m really proud and happy that we could manage and play it out as a team,” he said afterwards.

After his first green jersey win last year, Jasper says that he wants to make it a goal to win it again as much as possible. But his results in the classics have somewhat broadened his aims.

"My podium finish in Paris-Roubaix made it click – now I know that I can also compete for wins in races of that calibre," he says. "I took the step I wanted to take in that kind of race. It's something to continue with and I like doing it alongside sprinting."

The key to it all, he says, is enjoying himself. The 2023 season was the first year that he truly let go, and the results spoke for themselves: 19 wins across the season.

“Staying mentally fresh was the key I think. At the start of the year we said that it was important that I maintained enjoyment with what I did throughout, and had fun during the season. Of course, you have highs and lows but that's inevitable.”

Here’s to going fast, and having fun doing it.