Philipsen avoids yellow card after first stage UAE Tour: "I didn't realize I was doing something wrong"

Jasper Philipsen had a false start to his season. In the opening stage of the UAE Tour, the Belgian sprinter was immediately penalized after a questionable maneuver in the final sprint. The jury decided to relegate the Alpecin-Deceunick rider to last place. He also received a fine but was spared a yellow card.

Philipsen only heard the news late when he was already going to the hotel. "It wasn't a deliberate move," he explained to HLN (a Belgian news site). "You can see it in the images: I look over my right shoulder and then swerve to the left. I didn't realize I was doing something wrong. I thought we were riding two by two. I didn't see Fisher-Black."

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The incident was not serious enough for a yellow card

Philipsen did not finish second in his first stage of the year but 52nd. "This is not fun at all, but who am I to decide? I have to accept it," said the Belgian top sprinter.

The jury's decision was based on the revised UCI rules intended to increase safety in sprints. Based on these rules, Philipsen can consider himself lucky because he avoided a yellow card. A deviation from the line, which happened in the first stage, can sometimes result in a yellow card. However, the jury did not consider the offense severe enough, so it remained at a relegation and a fine of 500 Swiss francs.

From the footage, it certainly does not appear that the 26-year-old sprinter was playing a trick, but his maneuver was dangerous nonetheless. It was a good thing that Finn Fisher-Black was paying attention. Otherwise, he could have hit the ground hard. In that case, he probably would have received the yellow card.

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Philipsen knows he has to be more alert, otherwise things will go wrong

Philipsen said his move was due to the tough, ascending finale. "I was waiting and waiting for my moment. Pogacar went from a long way out, as did Milan. I waited until 100 meters, but that was still too far. When I came into the wind, I was short of breath and had to sit down. It was two tough minutes on that little climb. I pushed some serious metrics. I was tired."

Unfortunately, it is not the first time he has been the topic of conversation. He was the center of attention in the first week of the Tour. Because he deviated from his line and obstructed riders, he was disqualified in a stage where he came in second. He was also denied points for the green jersey. "The relegation in the first week was a low point of my Tour last year. But these are the things you go through, and you try to learn and come back stronger. After my first stage win, I got into a much better flow, and in cycling, you often see that once the momentum shifts, things start to go more smoothly," he said during the media day.

Philipsen still had no opinion of the new card system

The UCI (International Cycling Union) created a card system to prevent such dangerous behavior. He had not yet studied the new system thoroughly before the UAE Tour. "Some say it's not that bad, while others think it's quite strict. Of course, I hope to avoid getting one, but I also feel that sprints are heavily scrutinized and well-documented on camera. That means there's a tiny margin for error in a sprint, whereas in the other 190 kilometers of a race, the margin for error is much bigger," he said last week. He also did not yet know what he thought of it. "It's hard to say. The most important thing is that it's applied consistently."

Now that he has experienced the consequences, he knows adjustments are necessary. "I have to be even more alert, but in the heat of the moment, and when you are fully focused, that is not easy. But I am going to try to get it into my head. There are new rules, and I am going to have to adapt. Again, this is not fun, but I should be happy that I had a good first day on the bike. The Belgian sprinter concludes that my legs were good; I just ran into someone better."

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