Jasper Philipsen knows he wasn't good enough on stage 5: 'We’ll have to look into that'

Jasper Philipsen must have had other ideas when the first sprint opportunity of the Tour de France arose. A victory should have been within reach in Pau, but in the end, he was unable to match Olav Kooij’s speed. The Dutchman won his very first Tour stage, while the Belgian from Alpecin-Premier Tech finished only fifth. He knows he needs to do better.

Alpecin-Premier Tech had one of the best lead-out trains in the peloton for a long time, but in the final kilometers, the top sprinters got boxed in a bit. Riders like Philipsen and Tim Merlier had to come from further back, but the former sprinter just didn’t have the speed. “I was completely spent,” Philipsen told Eurosport and others after the finish. “It wasn’t a good sprint.”

In the final kilometer, the Belgian sprinter, who has already won ten stages in the Tour de France, was all alone. But he refused to call it a failed lead-out after finishing in fifth place. “It was very difficult and hectic. I quickly felt that I didn’t have much left. I was at my limit. The pace was very high, but I just didn’t have the legs.”

Philipsen has been building up to the Tour de France for a while now. So how is it possible that he didn’t deliver when it mattered most? “That also has to do with the fact that I wasn’t 100 percent. I just didn’t have the speed or the legs.” So, not in top shape. Is that due to the heat of the past few days? “It’s possible; we’ll have to look into that. But it wasn’t how it should have been.”

In any case, he won’t be giving up. After a tough mountain stage on Thursday, the sprinters will be able to go full throttle again on Friday and Saturday. New stages, new opportunities. “The Tour is still a long way from over. We certainly shouldn’t panic,” Philipsen concludes.