Philipsen sees only Pogacar and Roglic scoring better in Grand Tours, but warns: "From here on, it gets really tough"

Philipsen's Vuelta can be considered quite a success so far. He hit the mark right away on day one, with Jasper Disaster also taking the leader's jersey in Novara. On day four, he finished second, followed by another sprint opportunity on day eight that resulted in another stage victory.

“We won, so I can't complain,” said Philipsen on Saturday after his victory. The Belgian saw his sprint preparation fail. "In the final phase, I lost the wheel of my teammate. They did another great lead-out, but I wasn't there. I tried to communicate, but that isn't easy in the last kilometer. So I had to find my own way, and that meant I caught some extra wind. I came in very late with legs feeling like concrete. At the last moment, I managed to pull it off. I am pleased that I was able to reward the team's work."

All's well that ends well for Philipsen, as he managed to win in Zaragoza. That victory would be extra special, as it is the Belgian's fifteenth victory in a Grand Tour. “Every victory in a Grand Tour is special,” he said at the time, but only Tadej Pogacar (30) and Primoz Roglic (22) have won more often than Philipsen in a Grand Tour as active riders.

“It's never easy, you have to suffer for many days in the mountains to get this far,” said the Belgian, explaining the difficulty of a Grand Tour. He also knew what was still to come. “From now on, it will be a very tough Vuelta, but the two victories make it a little easier,” he said on Saturday.

Anyone looking at the route for the second week can see that the organizers have certainly not spared the sprinters. The mountain and transition stages follow each other in rapid succession, and the sprinters will only get half a chance, or at least a very small one, on Sunday. Still, the Belgian refuses to give up. “I will only drop out when I feel that I am no longer improving and am just digging myself into a hole. I want to make it an eleven-day training camp to improve my condition towards the end of the season,” Philipsen told Het Laatste Nieuws.