Philipsen climbs the podium with 2nd in the GP Fourmies

In a very high-speed sprint, Jasper Philipsen (photo Twitter @departement59)was in the prizes at the GP Fourmies, only beaten by Pascal Ackermann (Bora-hansgrohe).

The sprinter teams managed to reel in the breakaway which led for most of the day.
UAE Team Emirates focused on Jasper Philipsen, who was aiming to build on his third place in yesterday’s Brussels Classic.  He had the luxury of being able to count on Alexander Kristoff, who was riding in support of the young Belgian.

Philipsen picked the right wheel, namely that of Ackermann, and despite having to deviate slightly from his line due to the fall of Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) clocked his second podium spot of the weekend.
The sprint of the German was too much for Philipsen, who had to settle for second place.

Jasper Philipsen: “My goal was victory and I was convinced that I could achieve success. However, the final was messy and the plans of the sprinters were disrupted. It was a pity to have only come close to winning: the team worked well and it was an honor to be able to count on the support of an athlete like Kristoff.
I found Ackermann’s wheel, then Bouhanni came into contact with some riders, he touched me too and I temporarily lost my balance.  When I was able to get control of the bike, I had lost Ackermann’s wheel and it was too late to recover “.

Race results
1 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-hansgrohe 4h46’29”
2 Jasper Philipsen (Bel) UAE Team Emirates s.t.
3 Boy Van Poppel (Roompot-Charles) s.t.