Roubaix already floated a bit through Philipsen's head in Schoten: 'No sense in handing out big quacks'

"We had a plan as a team and tried to execute it as best as we could, but we got a bit separated in the end," the fast man from Ham explained afterward. "I noticed Bert Van Lerberghe and Tim making a move and found myself not quite in position, which left me a bit boxed in on the left and uunable to fully break free for my sprint."

Philipsen's last-minute addition to the Scheldeprijs lineup, choosing it over the Tour of Flanders, was strategic. "Given the conditions leaned towards a mass sprint, I was eager for a win here, yet it served as a good prep for Sunday too. With Kaden Groves, normally our sprinter here, not at 100% due to knee issues, I stepped in hoping for victory," he dryly summed up.

Could Philipsen have done something better in the finale? Not really, he believes. "The winner is always right, and I'm happy with how I felt and that we stayed upright, but of course, I would have liked to win. I wanted Tim's wheel, but Hugo Hofstetter got there, and he wasn't giving it up easily. And I didn't want to be handing out big shoves with Sunday in mind. Maybe I should have been more aggressive, but it was still a beautiful sprint."

Not taking all the risks this time doesn't mean the Scheldeprijs has become a second-tier race for him. "This is a race you want to win as much as possible, and I'll definitely be back in the coming years. Maybe Roubaix was on my mind a bit." Because that race is definitely a focal point. "We've been gearing up for Roubaix and the other monuments for some time. It's not like I'm the leading man from the get-go; we'll see how far we get. A lot will have probably happened by Carrefour de l'Arbre. I believe in a victory, but of course, everything has to fall into place," said the teammate of defending champion Mathieu van der Poel.