Tour de France green jersey holder Jasper Philipsen spoke of the hate mail he received during this year's Tour, especially after his stage 7 victory last week.

The Belgian, who scored a hat trick in Bordeaux, said he was inundated with negative messages on Instagram during the Tour, "scrolling for hours."

Speaking in his column for Het Belang van Limburg, Philipsen said he is putting the hate mail out of his mind for his sprint chance on Wednesday's 11th stage in Moulins. [On stage 7, the team of Cavendish and Eritrean Biniam Girmay protested his sprint.

"You can scroll for hours, but it doesn't make you happy. That message certainly keeps me off balance."

Philipsen and his Alpecin de Seuninck team faced several controversies during the Tour. Teammate Mathieu van der Poel was demoted in Nogaro on stage 4 for pushing Gilmey in the finish dash.

On stage 7, Philipsen appeared to deviate from the line in the final sprint, crossing Cavendish. A UCI commissioner later verified the finish and dismissed the protests of Astana Kazakstan and Intermarché Circus Wanty.

Philipsen said he was "quite comfortable" riding through the hectic, high-paced stage 10 to Issoire, but the sprint finish of stage 11 will depend on how the other teams chase behind the breakaway.

"Whether we can sprint effectively in Moulin also depends on the other teams. After three stage wins, one could say we don't need to be at the front anymore." But that doesn't suit Alpecin-Desseuninck's style. We are winners and we don't like to be responsible."

Philipsen's fourth win also depends on the health of van der Pol, who has led him to great success this past July. The Dutch driver has been ill for the past few days and was not available for press interviews on Wednesday morning.

"As a precaution, I will sleep alone in my room tonight," Philipsen said on Tuesday.

"It's not ideal that Mathieu is a little under the weather, but it's not drama either.

"I heard him coughing loudly on Monday and he completely lost his voice during the run. Hopefully he will be better soon."

Philipsen also tried to calm a small uproar over his comments about Monday's rest day. Regarding the road world championships in Glasgow, he said, "I will not stand in the way of Mathieu van der Pol."

Belgian coach Sven Vanthourenhout called the remarks "unfortunate" and said he had spoken to the sprinter, adding that the riders selected for the world championships would represent Belgium in the race.

"It's the fate of the Tour de France riders," he said. There's a big magnifying glass pointed at this stage race."

"Later on, you say, 'I didn't mean to do that. ...... I would see my statements in a context where I would think, 'I'm not going to be able to do that. Of course I will go to Glasgow as a Belgian and I will do my best for the national team."