It's the morning after Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, and the rain falls heavily outside Jasper Philipsen's childhood home on the outskirts of Ham. The UAE Team Emirates rider completed his first Opening Weekend less than 24-hours early but he shows no signs of the toils he was put under when he offers Cyclingnews shelter from the icy downpour. We're here to meet one of Belgium cycling's young sensations; a rider who not only heralds from the same neck of the woods as Tom Boonen but has been repeatedly compared with the great man too.
If you're not familiar with Philipsen's career until now that's perhaps understandable given that Wout van Aert and his Dutch rival Mathieu van der Poel have been representing the new kids on the block this season. The pair have torn up the scripts and discarded the reputations of far more established cobbled specialists this year.
Philipsen, on the other hand, has had a less prolific start to his career in the elite ranks. Although at the point of this interview he was the only one of the trio to have won a WorldTour race having taken a stage of the Tour Down Under in January. Ham, however, is a million miles from the heat of Adelaide and as Philipsen leads us into his home he retells his Opening Weekend experience.
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"It was a hard experience but I enjoyed it," he says in between taking our coffee orders and busily scanning the kitchen cupboards of his parent's home for some cake to accompany the beverages.
"It was always hectic and that feeling never stopped. The pace was always hard but I think that it was a good experience for. It was hard to put a plan together because only two of us on the team had ridden Opening Weekend before. We knew it would be difficult to get a result, but we tried to keep the position. I suffered a bit but my legs felt like they were slowly filling with acid. I learned from that day that I needed to be near the front but when the split came on the Kwaremont I was there. That was a good step but I had to suffer a lot just to be there.
"I knew that it wouldn't be easy. I expected to use it as just experience and show myself where I could. The results weren't great but no one expected them from me. I'm just 21 so I want to go back, get stronger every year and gain experience."
In Tom Boonen's frame
Tough choices and the move to UAE
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/philipsen-pro-cyclings-young-sensation
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