Philipsen ends his season with 7 wins, Van der Poel with 6, as there will be no big finale in Paris-Tours

As mentioned, the 27-year-old Belgian had been in excellent form in recent weeks, after his summer was cut short when he was forced to abandon the Tour de France on stage 3. He had already won a stage and worn the yellow jersey, but a heavy crash ended his Tour early. At that point, his entire season was in doubt... But things turned around quickly.

After his withdrawal from the Tour, Philipsen found new motivation thanks to a training camp with Van der Poel. By late August, he was back on the start line at the Vuelta a España, where he went on to win three stages in total. In early October, he added another victory at the Sparkassen Münsterland Giro. Expectations were high for the final races of the year, but Philipsen’s tank is now empty.

On Tuesday, Philipsen failed to finish Binche-Chimay-Binche, and according to Alpecin-Deceuninck, he’s “not fully fit” to start Paris-Tours on Sunday. That marks the end of his season, in which he collected seven victories in total. In addition to his three Vuelta wins, one in the Tour, and the Münsterland Giro, he also crossed the line first in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne and the Baloise Belgium Tour.

With seven victories, Philipsen finishes the year one ahead of Van der Poel, the other superstar of the Roodhooft brothers’ team. The Dutchman claimed wins at Le Samyn, Milan-San Remo, the E3 Saxo Classic, Paris-Roubaix, a Tour de France stage, and one stage in the Renewi Tour, before turning his focus to the mountain bike world championships.

Thirteen of Alpecin-Deceuninck’s eighteen victories this season came from their star duo. So who will be chasing success this weekend in the Tour of Lombardy, Paris-Tours, and the Gravel World Championships? The Belgian team will also field riders in cyclo-cross and mountain biking. What can riders like Tibor Del Grosso, Gal Glivar, and Tobias Bayer deliver?