“A sprinter should sprint and not always go to altitude training camps” – former Belgian professional criticizes Jasper Philipsen’s training methods

Although Jasper Philipsen’s 9 wins in 2024 are far from a disaster, they do represent a sharp decline from the Belgian sprint star’s 19 wins in 2023. However, there could be a clear reason for the Alpecin-Deceuninck star’s decline in this one give year?

As already mentioned, this year has by no means been a bad one for the 26-year-old. A huge success at Milan-Sanremo, followed by 4th place at the Tour of Flanders and 2nd place at Paris-Roubaix for the second year in a row marked a very successful spring, which also brought joy at Classic Brugge-De Panne. A stage of the Baloise Belgium Tour took place in June and although he finished second to Arnaud De Lie at the Belgian National Championships, Philipsen secured three stage wins at the Tour de France. Nevertheless, the feeling remains that Philipsen could have done better in 2024, at least that is the view of former Paris-Roubaix winner Johan Vansummeren.

According to the 43-year-old Belgian, Philipsen’s training methods could have been improved in 2024. Vansummeren even provides a notable example of the European Championships, where Philipsen’s Belgian rival Tim Merlier emerged victorious in a frantic bunch sprint final.

“A sprinter should sprint and not always go to altitude training camps. I think Jasper lost the European Championships in Livigno,” says Vansummeren, criticizing the decision of Alpecin-Deceuninck and Philipsen to go up so close to one of his big goals for the season. “The only flat roads you find there are between tunnels. It is inevitable that the absolute speed will be affected by driving uphill a lot.”

Although Philipsen finished 4th at the European Championships, the Belgian managed to add another win to his successes before the end of the season and emerged victorious at the Sparkassen Münsterland Giro on October 3rd, his 9th win of the season and his 51st win of the season Career.