Jasper Philipsen only got to enjoy the yellow jersey for one day, after taking it with his stage 1 win on Saturday. The Belgian from Alpecin-Deceuninck was dropped in the finale of a brutal stage two and saw his teammate Mathieu van der Poel win the stage and take over the yellow jersey. A perfect score for the Belgian team, and that’s what counts. “He was unbelievably strong, while I actually felt a bit worse today after yesterday’s tough stage,” Philipsen analyzed right after the finish. “Today was really hard in the finale, but I’m so happy that Mathieu took it and won our second stage of this Tour. Yesterday gave everyone a lot of confidence, so we took control, and the guys worked really hard. That wasn’t easy, but with someone like Mathieu, it makes their job a lot easier. He was incredible today.”
Surrounded by media, Philipsen said he “enjoyed his day in yellow so much.” Would he have to defend Van der Poel’s yellow on Monday? His smile at the question said it all. “Tomorrow should be a bunch sprint, and the day after is for him again. I’m just happy we’re keeping yellow in the team, another very beautiful day for us,” he concluded.
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Philipsen or Van der Poel for the green jersey?
“I don’t really mind losing yellow this way, now we both get to start tomorrow with a nice jersey,” Philipsen told
NOS, referring to his own green jersey. Whether that becomes a goal for this Tour remains to be seen. “Probably, but it’s still very early. Mathieu took a lot of points today too. It’s good that we’re both in a strong position,” he said to
Sporza.It’s a very luxurious position for Alpecin-Deceuninck, and not for the first time. “I have no idea what it is. We’ve worked really hard for it, but of course, it still has to all come together. Winning twice already is amazing, but the Tour is still very long. This is so beautiful for the team, but tomorrow we’ll go for it again 100 percent. We do our best, and Mathieu delivers so often at crucial moments. It’s a privilege to ride on the team with him, it lifts the whole squad to another level.”