Among the most anticipated riders in this Tour de France who won't be competing in the general classification is Jasper Philipsen, the Belgian sprinter racing with Alpecin-Deceuninck alongside Mathieu van der Poel. In this Grande Boucle, the Belgian hopes for a better start compared to last year, when his first victory came in the tenth stage. Philipsen has many goals, all achievable: he wants to surpass ten stage wins at the Tour, capture the first yellow jersey, and arrive in Paris wearing the green points classification jersey. His opportunities for victory won't be numerous, so he'll need to fight until the last pedal stroke.

"It will be a nervous Tour from the first day, and it will be difficult to rest well at night because you'll always be thinking about the race. It would be nice to start immediately and take the yellow jersey, but it's a difficult goal. I remember that Kittel captured the yellow jersey a couple of times. Cavendish too, I believe only once if I'm not mistaken. These are images that stay with you. A sprinter rarely has many chances to wear the yellow jersey."

To win the green jersey, you necessarily have to win the sprint stages; otherwise, it would be impossible to arrive in Paris as the points classification leader.
"Winning is always beautiful, and if you want to wear the yellow jersey in the first week, you must absolutely win. You have to do it in the sprinters' stages, and the time trial specialists will have to do it on the fifth day. The same goes for the green jersey: if you want to wear it in Paris, you must definitely win, you can't take it without being first across the finish line. So yes, I would like to win the stage and take a jersey at the same time; they're always nice to frame or hang in the closet."

It will certainly be a difficult Tour because the opportunities for victory are few, and even fewer for sprinters, and if you miss your goal, you can say goodbye to the work done for months. The pitfalls won't be lacking, nor will the dangers, which sprinters are prepared to face because their job is to go at maximum speed.

"We know that risks will be taken again, these will be nervous days with a risk of crashes, especially on the roads of northern France. The asphalt won't be excellent on some days, even though they'll often lay a new layer of asphalt before the Tour, and it would certainly be too expensive to do so for the entire race route. So yes, we know there could be crashes and that this will cause a stir. But what's the alternative? To no longer race for the yellow jersey..."