Jasper Philipsen will be the sprint driver for the 2023 Tour de France, and on stage 11 in Moulin on Wednesday, despite the absence of Alpecin des Seuninck leader Mathieu Van der Pol due to illness, he He continued to flatten his opponents.

Philipsen easily overtook Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco Iaia) on stage 11 and was the last man past Van der Poel to the finish on stages 3, 4, and 7.

Asked about the impact of the absence of a sporting giant like Van der Poel, who served as the lead-out man for Philipsen on Wednesday, the Belgian said, "We can win without him.

"It's more hectic at the back and there is always the risk of a crash. This time I was happy because I was on a good wheel to keep up with Dylan Groenewegen. He went out early but I was able to pass him."

As for whether he had anything to prove in some of the other sprints, as there were complaints about him moving the line, Philipsen said, "I'm not sure. This is the Tour de France, so of course they will be scrutinizing everything closely."

As for the possible consequences of a rider like Van der Pol abstaining, Philipsen dismissed the idea, saying, "Sure it's a loss, but he has a lot of ambitions himself."

"Tomorrow [Thursday] is the big play, so he's thinking about that and saving his energy to recover from his little illness. But it's nothing to worry about."

Apart from the lead-out man and stage winner, Alpecin Deceuninck has managed to build a team that will have great success in the sprint.

"But the results didn't come out of nowhere, we have concentrated on the sprint stages and tried to do our best with all the riders here.

Success begets success, says Philipsen. "Being mentally focused is a big part of it, but also the fact that we're having a great Tour. It's already stage 11, but it doesn't feel like it. Our team is just a bunch of young guys having fun, and of course it's even more fun when we win.

On the personal front, Philipsen admits that there have been important changes in his approach to training over the past few months. He said, "I'm doing a lot of climbing to get over the mountains better. In fact, I do more mountain training than sprinting," he revealed.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Philipsen admitted that the green jersey is a major goal for the upcoming Tour. He said, "I lost one sprint against Mads Pedersen in Limoges, and next week will be difficult to control. Next week will be difficult to control.

After winning four of the 11 stages, Philipsen is making his mark on the sport's history.

"I'm not that good at history, and it wasn't my favorite subject in school," said Philipsen. But it's a great accomplishment to be mentioned in the same phrase as Tom Steele." It's always nice to hear that."

Before a broken collarbone forced him to retire, Mark Cavendish had a chance to make history at the Tour. However, Philipsen said that not having a great opponent like Cavendish was important and made a difference, but "it doesn't make (winning) easy."

The next sprint competition will take place in Bourg-en-Bresse a week after the Tour takes on both the Jura and the Alps. Barring any major surprises or bad luck, Philipsen will be a reference in the collective sprint ahead, and in the process will be further etched into the history of the Tour.