Phillipsen Takes Binck Bank Stage 1

Jaspen Phillipsen used incredible skill to take the win on stage one.

The 132k stage was on narrow roads from Blankenberge to Ardooie with many crashes. The biggest crash was at 3.3k to go where 20 riders went down but no one was seriously hurt.

Philipsen : “It was quite a straightforward day in the beginning. With just 2 riders in the breakaway the peloton was confident that it was going to end in a bunch sprint. It was quite hectic in the end as everybody was still fresh so there were a few crashes on the run-in. I managed to stay out of trouble and had the legs to win. For me it’s the nicest win of my career so far and I’m super happy.”

Philipsen will also wear the yellow jersey for the stage 2 Individual Time Trial tomorrow which starts and finishes in Vlissingen (10.9k).

Results

01 J. Philipsen 2:59:26

02 M. Pedersen +0:00

03 P. Ackermann +0:00

04 D. van Poppel +0:00