Van der Poel on Philipsen's unfortunate comment: "Jasper might be saying out loud what many riders are thinking"

Unintentionally, Alpecin-Deceuninck leader Jasper Philipsen found himself in a mini-controversy during the Tour de France in his home country, which was expertly nipped in the bud by coach Sven Vanthourenhout. Philipsen had said that he might not follow his Dutch teammate Mathieu van der Poel at the World Championships, something van der Poel found amusing.

Let's rewind to the beginning: Philipsen said the following to Belgian media during the Tour de France. "I think it's clear that I will never stand in Mathieu's way, even if I ride for the Belgian team. I will never be the person who has to follow Mathieu. I will communicate this to the Belgian team as well," said the winner of the green jersey.

Vanthourenhout was quick to put the comment in context, which Philipsen himself did later as well. "I talked to Jasper about it. He was also quite bothered by it himself. He didn't expect questions about the World Championships at a press conference about the Tour," the coach explained. "He hadn't really thought about the situation with Mathieu van der Poel. The message is very simple: anyone who accepts a selection for Glasgow rides for the national team. That applies to everyone and therefore also to Jasper."

Van der Poel on the "eternal debate between countries and teams"

IDLProCycling.com brought up the topic at van der Poel's press chat in Edinburgh on Friday. "What were your thoughts when you heard or were told about Jasper's comment?" we asked the Dutch leader, who immediately smiled. "That's Jasper, just saying what he thinks. If they get into a situation where he has to follow me, then they've already done something wrong, of course. So I don't think it will come to such a situation."

"That's always the eternal debate, between countries and teams," van der Poel articulates the discussion. "Jasper might be saying out loud what many riders are thinking to themselves. In Belgium, they don't have that very often, and then you get judged for it," he shows understanding towards his good friend.

The question remains: will van der Poel follow Philipsen? "If I have to start following Jasper, then we've definitely done something wrong too. Normally, that situation will not occur for us. I just ride my own race and that is to win, and I think Jasper understands that."

In any case, the winner of Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix is looking out for the strong Belgian team. "In Belgium, they have a luxury problem. They have three good riders, who in my view all deserve their selection," he said, referring to Philipsen, Remco Evenepoel, and Wout van Aert. "They will be professional enough not to get in each other's way. They have the strongest selection of everyone, in all respects."