The sunshine was starting to weaken on Sunday afternoon when the Belgian fast-man finally rolled into the post-race interview zone to speak to the media. During this time, I spent a few minutes taking a look at his bike before he was whisked away again.
Philipsen raced to the win on his team issue Canyon Aeroad CFR, widely considered to be one of the best road bikes. Canyon has sponsored Alpecin-Deceunick for several years now.
It's a fairly stock setup, but there are a few interesting details to be observed. Philipsen, like his teammates, rides the Aeroad CFR with a Dura-Ace groupset, Dura-Ace C50 wheels and Canyon finishing kit. The team switched from Vittoria tyres during the winter to Pirelli P Zero TLR RS tubeless models, and Philipsen won on 30mm tyres at Kuurne.
The bike was covered in race splatter and was UCI security tagged post-race, but had a '2' sticker next to the Philipsen top tube name sticker. Did the Belgian win on his number-two race bike?
Philipsen's Aeroad was racked with second and third place finishers Olaf Kooij and Hugo Hofstetter's machines (Image credit: Tom Wieckowski)
Worn bar tape at the shifter for Philipsen, perhaps he likes the worn-in feel or preferred not to have it changed pre-race (Image credit: Tom Wieckowski)
A detailed fuelling plan for the Belgian, 45 grams of carbs for the bottles, with bars in the first half of the race, and gels added into the mix towards the end (Image credit: Tom Wieckowski)
The Canyon Aeroad handlebar is width adjustable (Image credit: Tom Wieckowski)
Philipsen has the more aggressive Canyon 'Pro' CP0049 stem that is 120mm long (Image credit: Tom Wieckowski)
Philipsen raced with the Canyon Thru Axle levers installed front and rear, perhaps to save time if a wheel needed to be removed (Image credit: Tom Wieckowski)
Dura-Ace C50 wheels have won an awful lot of races (Image credit: Tom Wieckowski)
Spot the monster bottom bracket shell on the Canyon Aeroad CFR (Image credit: Tom Wieckowski)
Does this '2' mean this is the no.2 race bike? (Image credit: Tom Wieckowski)
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Tom joined the Cyclingnews team in late 2022 as a tech writer. Despite having a degree in English Literature he has spent his entire working life in the cycling industry in one form or another. He has over 10 years of experience as a qualified mechanic, with the last five years before joining Cyclingnews being spent running an independent workshop. This means he is just as happy tinkering away in the garage as he is out on the road bike, and he isn’t afraid to pull a bike apart or get hands-on with it when testing to really see what it’s made of.
He has ridden and raced bikes from an early age up to a national level on the road and track, and has ridden and competed in most disciplines. He has a keen eye for pro-team tech and enjoys spotting new or interesting components in the wild. During his time at Cyclingnews, Tom has already interviewed some of the sport's biggest names including Mathieu van der Poel, Tadej Pogačar and Alberto Contador. He's also covered various launches from brands such as Pinarello, Ridley, Specialized and more, tackled the Roubaix Challenge sportive aboard his own rim-brake Cannondale SuperSix Evo, tested over 20 aero helmets in the wind tunnel, and has created helpful in-depth buying advice relating to countless categories from torque wrenches to winter clothing.
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