Pogacar wanted to win him over, but Philipsen stayed on the same team as Van der Poel: Fleming explains why

Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, Tudor Pro Cycling, and UAE-Team Emirates seemed the most specific, and numerous other teams were eager to bring in the Flemish sprint bomb. "I am happy with the proposal that came, and I am happy that I could stay with the team," Philipsen declared in mid-September, three months after the decision was made. "Staying with Alpecin-Deceuninck was always the first option for me anyway."

Even good comrade Tadej Pogacar, who was already racing together for the UAE team in 2019 and 2020, would have tried to get Philipsen to return to the old nest. "Tadej did say something about me coming to UAE, but of course, he also knows that UAE makes choices in that regard," said the 26-year-old top sprinter, who would enjoy riding with Pogi in one team once again. "However, I think the choice made was the best choice from a sporting point of view."

And so Philipsen stayed by the side of Mathieu van der Poel, who regularly performed a superb lead-out for him. "How Mathieu can and wants to do that for me is an enormous privilege. We understand each other well, and our relationship outside cycling is also good. I could also call him a friend," he interpreted the (Lower Belgian) relationship. "When he does his full acceleration, sometimes it's hard to follow. He often pulls the peloton completely on a line. There are guys in between who leave gaps by then. But then it's not easy to follow Mathieu either."