What could go wrong now that Merlier and Philipsen both get to sprint at the European Championships? "Might get weird"

Tim Merlier and Jasper Philipsen are among the most successful sprinters in the peloton this season, and they also came up against each other violently in a man-to-man encounter. That sometimes went hard against hard, with scornful looks afterward. At the European Championships, that whole history has to be thrown overboard because suddenly, Merlier and Philipsen are riding in one team for Belgium. How is that supposed to work? The two protagonists explained it Friday during a press conference.

When Sven Vanthourenhout recently announced his European Championship selection, it was immediately obvious: Merlier, Philipsen, and, at that time, Wout van Aert and the always-strong Jordi Meeus. According to national coach Vanthourenhout, he had four sprinters on paper because he simply had no arguments about not taking one or more of the four.

Whoever thinks Merlier and Philipsen will ride for each other in the road race in Flanders on Sunday can put that thought away. "It might be weird that there will be two sprint trains, but we both want to win. It may be that we will sprint against each other, and I think that is more than logical," Philipsen told HLN in a down-to-earth tone.

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Can Belgium's two sprint trains coexist?

Two light blues in a sprint against each other? Is that possible with strong men like Olav Kooij and Jonathan Milan at the start? "I think both Jasper and I will have a sprint train. I'm a different sprinter than him. We won't hinder each other, but we both want the jersey. Then, if Milan wins, he will be the fastest. There will always be some criticism. I think the national coach should get praise. He has shown balls by taking us with him," Merlier said.

"If a Belgian wins, that will indeed be the conclusion. If no Belgian wins, there will be criticism about the selection. We'll both get our chance if it comes to a sprint," Philipsen stressed. "We can sprint with two next to each other. With six is also an option," jokes the Alpecin-Deceuninck man, who won three Tour stages this year.