Newly crowned Milan-San Remo champion Jasper Philipsen sprinted to victory in the Classic Brugge-De Panne one-day race in Belgium on Wednesday afternoon.
The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider's second win in four days came at the end of a chaotic run-in to De Panne, with the whole bunch contesting the final kilometres over narrow farm roads and tight bends in the final kilometre of the 198km race.
Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quick Step) came in second and Danny Van Poppel (Bora-Hansgrohe) third, despite having a close call with a drainage ditch with six kilometres remaining.
As they crossed the line, Merlier was seen remonstrating with Philipsen over a clash of shoulders going into the last 250m. The pair had both gone for a gap on the left-hand side behind Van Poppel; it evidently wasn't big enough for both of them, and were forced to back off.
Not surprisingly, winner Philipsen was happy to play the incident down.
"I had a lot of positions to make up in the last corner, and I got into Tim Merlier's wheel – it's the best wheel you can get on to," Philipsen said, perhaps hoping to mollify his countryman. "I tried to come through on the left but the gap was so small. In the end I came shoulder to shoulder with Tim, it's a bit of a shame, but I'm happy to win."
Asked whether he was in the form of his life given his two wins this week, the 26-year-old concurred that he likely had been at Milan-San Remo at the weekend.
"On Saturday I probably had my best legs that I've had so far," he said. "Today was a bit different, but in a sprint or a race like this you don't have to be 110% to win, but of course you need a little bit of luck and also good legs."
Philipsen made huge strides last season, shrugging off his 'Jasper Disaster' tag to win the Tour de France green jersey and take 19 other victories. On current form it looks as though the winning is set to continue.
The pressure is clearly off for Alpecin and Philipsen in the Classics for this spring, but a relaxed rider is a dangerous rider, and he has no intention of taking his foot off the gas, he said: "I hope to add another victory in the coming weeks, that would be nice for sure, as there's only important races to come. I think the Classics are already a big success for us, so anything extra is a cherry on the cake."
This weekend sees more Classics action, with the E3 Saxo Classic on Friday and Gent-Wevelgem on Sunday.
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