Philipsen Seals 50th Career Victory in Thrilling Renewi Tour 2024 Stage 4 Sprint Showdown

Jasper Philipsen (Belgium, Alpecin-Deceuninck) got his revenge, leading off with world champion Van der Poel to claim his 50th career win.

There are only two days left in the Renewi Tour (UCI World Tour), a five-day stage race across the Netherlands and Belgium that has brought together top star riders such as Tomome Yuhi (EF Education Easypost). Before the Queen Stage on the final day, the fourth stage was held in the Netherlands, connecting Oostburg in Zeeland to Aalter in the East Flanders region of Belgium.

As if to represent the flatness of this region, the 178.5km course was a pure sprinter layout with no uphill sections (the total elevation gain for the day was 340m). The strong winds that spun the famous windmills caused the main group to split into three from the beginning of the race, resulting in a fierce race. In the end, the average speed for the day reached a frightening 49.325km/h.

A breakaway group was formed, including teammate Jack Rooke Gladys (Great Britain, EF Education Easypost), who is the same age as Tomome, and the other groups that had split off merged as they entered the Aalter street circuit course. Fabio Jacobsen (Netherlands, dsm Verminich Post NL), who turned 28 that day, was involved in a crash early on and left the race just as he crossed the finish line.

Dries Devont (Belgium, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and others jumped into the first group from the group that was setting a high pace. However, Riddle-Trek and Alpecin-Deceuninck, who were leading the main group and aiming for a sprint, did not allow anyone to escape and swallowed everyone up with 7km remaining. With 2km remaining, the technical city course began, and the teams who wanted to take the lead were in a fierce scramble.

A residential area where the roads cut back and forth. With water gutters, sidewalks, and rough pavement joints blocking the riders’ path, a crash occurred at the front of the group with less than 1km to go. While Mick van Dijk (Netherlands, Visma Leesabike) and Arnaud Demare (France, Arkea B&B Hotels) were caught up in the crash, 20 riders made a fierce battle to exit the right-hand corner with 450m to go. The world champion’s leadout began on the final straight.

Jasper Philipsen (Belgium, Alpecin-Deceuninck) lost out to Jonathan Milan (Italy, Lidl-Trek) in the first and third stages, but on this day he sprinted to keep up with Van der Poel. With Milan exhausted from the fight for position, Philipsen finally took the win.

“I’m glad things went well today. I had been losing to Milan, but I think I was able to give back to the team for taking the lead today. It was a difficult situation where the position would be decided by how I handled the corner in the last 450m. Mathieu’s assist was a really big help,” said Philipsen, who achieved revenge and marked his 50th career win.

The top riders in the overall standings finished in the pack. Alec Segaert (Belgium, Lotto Destiny) had a 7-second lead over Magnus Sheffield (USA, Ineos Grenadiers) and now they will tackle the queen stage, which features steep hills that are iconic of Flanders, such as Kapelmuur and Paterberg. Classic race-savvy riders such as Tim Wellens (Belgium, Lotto Destiny) in 4th place overall and Christophe Laporte (France, Visma Leas-A-Bike) in 5th place are also likely to aim for an upset victory.

Philipsen Seals 50th Career Victory in Thrilling Renewi Tour 2024 Stage 4 Sprint Showdown

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