The sight of Mathieu van der Poel applauding from the centre of the velodrome as Jasper Philipsen outsprinted his rivals for a repeat second place behind his Dutch teammate was one of the most memorable of the 2024 edition of Paris-Roubaix. And while Van der Poel is once again a surefire key contender for next Sunday, Philipsen himself is hoping for a top result.
Following his bad crash in Nokere Koerse earlier this spring, just a few days after his stunning triumph at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne and third place in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Philipsen recently seemed to be hitting top form again this week with a second place in Scheldeprijs behind Tim Merlier.
Yet if the same result in the mid-week Belgian Classic behind the Soudal-QuickStep sprinter also preceded his runner's up spot in Paris-Roubaix in 2024, this time round Philipsen is more guardedly optimistic about his chances.
As Philipsen explained to Wielerflits and other media in a post-Scheldeprijs interview, he is still feeling some lingering aftereffects from his Nokere Korse crash, including a minor but niggling case of whiplash.
Perhaps as a consequence, Philipsen told the Dutch website he was uncertain if he'll be at 100% for Sunday but that "in principle" he should be aiming for a top result.
"I also believe that [Paris-Roubaix] is the Classic that suits me best," Philipsen said. "In any case, it shouldn't be a surprise anymore, if you've already been on the podium twice.
Philipsen said that after the crash in the closing kilometres of Nokere Koerse, he went through a very tough period, suffering sometimes in training and getting headaches.
"After that crash in Nokere Koerse, I really had a bad period. I fell quite hard on my face and that's still bothering me. I had a bit of whiplash around the neck muscles, and that's also affected my head."
"Nothing insurmountable in itself, but also anything but comfortable. Fortunately, the osteopath's treatment is helping me a lot."
Regarding Roubaix, Philipsen said that although he's improved a lot in his climbing - "although that's not been noticed in the results yet" – the lack of hills like in the Tour de Flanders played in his favour.
"I can do this kind of effort better, positioning is also not a problem. That's a morale boost," he told Wielerflits.
"I hope that we can take control of the race with the team, but not having bad luck is also always important, too."
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