Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck): “You can’t expect to be first and second in Roubaix every year”

April 7 ^th 2024 - 18:13

What did we have for breakfast? We just had porridge and oat pancakes, nothing special!! But yeah, everyone in team was on his top level today. Maybe I didn’t have my best day, as I did have in Milano-Sanremo, but I was riding on a defensive position and I was able to follow wheels for a long time. That gave me an edge in the closing kilometres. With Mathieu at the front, it was clear who was the strongest today.

It's the management and the riders that make the team great. You also need to have good luck, and to work hard and do things right. Our team succeeds in all this, yet you can’t expect to be first and second in Roubaix every year. It is really special and we need to enjoy it.

I like Paris-Roubaix. It is a race that motivates me and I love the cobbles, so why not targeting it in the future. But, as for today, there was one rider who was clearly the strongest, and on top of that he was my teammate.

We showed the strength of our team today. Everyone was committed and on his best shape. By setting a tempo earlier on we avoided a lot of stress while putting some pressure on the others. Yet of course you still need the legs to finish it off, like Mathieu did.