Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Desseuninck) has established himself as the fastest sprinter with four stage wins at the 2023 Tour de France, but the Belgian fastman believes he can win the Monument as well.

He is having the best season of his career, with seven wins at the World Tour level this season, including second place in the spring classics in Paris-Roubaix behind teammate Mathieu van der Pol and a win in the classic Bourges des Pins.

"I came close this year, finishing second in Paris-Roubaix. If the conditions are right, it's a race I can win."

Philipsen had an impressive run in Roubaix, surviving the hardest five-star sectors. When Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) suffered a puncture, eliminating any chance of challenging Van der Pol for the win, Philipsen sat on his wheel and easily outpaced his compatriot on the velodrome.

Also in the Bourges des Pins, Philipsen proved to be more than just a sprinter. He pulled away from the leading group and kept up the pace in wet and windy conditions, knowing he was the pre-race favorite, and held off Olaf Couey (Jumbo Visma), Yves Lampert (Sourdal-Quickstep), and Frederic Frison (Lotto Dostony). He won by a margin of victory.

"We are making progress every year and we want to continue on this path and get a little stronger in the classics," said Philipsen. 'We are on the right track.'

The 25-year-old still has a long career ahead of him, and his tremendous consistency in finding sprint lanes, coupled with his superior top-end speed, should result in many more wins to come.

He has won six straight flat sprints in the Tour. In the last 17 Tour de France sprint stages, he has finished in the top three 16 times. He has also made rapid progress to become the fastest sprinter to follow in the finals, losing out to the resurgent Mark Cavendish and the in-form Van Aert in 2021.

Philipsen narrowly missed winning the final stage of the 2021 Tour and was reduced to tears on the Champs-Elysées; in 2023, the Alpecin rider took another leap forward, winning four races on the strength of his dominant sprinting ability.

This included some great leadouts by Van der Pol and Ricard, but he also showed that he was fast enough on his own to leave the pack behind, even when he was badly positioned in the group finale. [Given his history as a sprinters' monument, which includes Cavendish and Eric Zabel (four times), it is no wonder he is being questioned about his chances of winning Milan-San Remo in the future.

"I never got close at San Remo, but I had a good feeling this year at Poggio," he said.

But he made it clear which monument he really wants: "Paris-Roubaix. I think Paris-Roubaix is the most special," said Philipsen. In addition to his runner-up finish this year, he has had success in the north of France before joining the World Tour, including two top-five finishes in Paris-Roubaix for juniors and a fourth in the U23 race in 2018.