Jasper Philipsen got the 2022 season off to a good start by winning the UAE Tour in February from day one. Four days later, he won his second. But it took him a month and a half to find success again, and it happened on the Presidential Tour of Turkey.

In his debut Tour of Turkey last season, the Alpecin Phoenix sprinter took two wins and a points prize, despite Mark Cavendish (Quick Step) finishing first four times.

"At the beginning of this year, we didn't initially plan to come back to Turkey," Philipsen told Cycling News in Izmir. Here in Turkey, I knew I had a chance to win and it would be nice to have two or three sprints to finally get the win."

The fast man from Mal is being looked at as the new Tom Boonen, as he is from the same town and has similar characteristics. He has been active in the Flanders Classics, finishing a personal best 8th in Suheldeprij, which he won last year. He also loves Paris-Roubaix, but forsook it to return to Turkey.

"There aren't that many races on the calendar with five to seven group sprints in one week," he said. Even a flat race like Paris-Nice is close to a classic." So the Tour of Turkey is a good race for us sprinters. That's why I like this race. I discovered it last year. I like to come back here to sprint and try to win."

He started the race in second place behind Aussies Caleb Yuan (Lotto-Soudal) and Kayden Groves (Team Bike Exchange-Jayco), but eventually beat them on stage 3 in Izmir.

"Maybe I was a little too fresh after the tough classics to do my best sprints. The more sprints I do, the better I will be. We will get our speed back. Winning today was a confidence booster.

"I think I'm stronger overall than last year. The sprints are about the same, but the engines are better. My results in the classics are getting better every year, but it is really hard to fight for the win in those tough races. The competition is very fierce. I will try to win the classics every year.

After Turkey, he will head to Eschborn-Frankfurt on May 1 to defend his title. This is a World Tour race he won last year in the midst of a winning streak that included the Denain GP and the Campioenschapp van Vlaanderen in September. The Baloise Belgian Tour is an option as a preparatory stage race for the Belgian Championships and the Tour de France.

"Last year I was on the podium six times at the Tour de France," he said. Winning there will be my main goal this season." There is still time until early July."