No Tour of Flanders, but Sanremo and Roubaix: this is Jasper Philipsen’s programme

Philipsen won Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne last Spring, but a crash at Nokere Koerse meant he was unable to defend his Milan–San Remo title. Later in the Classics season, he was able to test his legs a bit more, but the very best never fully came out of the 27-year-old. It was clear there could have been more, had he made it through the Spring unscathed.

So Philipsen returns to racing with a mission. He will first be seen in Portugal, where he will ride the Volta ao Algarve, his team announced on Instagram. The last time he started that race was back in 2019, when he was still riding for UAE Team Emirates. In recent years he often opted for the UAE Tour, but this time he’s trying something different.

From Portugal, the Belgian hopes to prepare in the best possible way for Opening Weekend. Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne are the first goals. Last year Philipsen finished second on Saturday, before getting his reward on Sunday in Kuurne. Can he now dot the i’s and win both races?

After that, it’s a little over two weeks until his next race: Nokere Koerse — the race where Philipsen hit the deck hard in 2025. But with the race falling three days before Milan–San Remo, it’s an ideal test, and so it has been added to his calendar. La Primavera is then the first truly big objective, where Philipsen hopes to peak. He already won in 2024, and a second victory is clearly the ambition.

After San Remo, the focus shifts back to the cobbles. First comes the Ronde van Brugge (formerly Classic Brugge–De Panne), followed by In Flanders Fields – From Middelkerke to Wevelgem, better known as Gent–Wevelgem. And the Tour of Flanders? Philipsen will skip it. After Dwars door Vlaanderen, he will miss that weekend, before then lining up for Scheldeprijs.

But Paris–Roubaix cannot be skipped. Twice Philipsen has finished second in the Hell of the North, and last year he also stayed with the best for a long time. In the finale, however, the engine stalled. With strong preparation, the Belgian will be a key piece in Alpecin-Deceuninck’s battle against Tadej Pogačar.