Jasper Philipsen approaches this Saturday's Milan-Sanremo in the best possible way, finding his first seasonal victory on the roads of the Nokere Koerse. The Belgian from Alpecin-Premier Tech, still without wins before today, beat in the sprint Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) and Juan Sebastian Molano (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) who, like him, managed to catch up with a courageous Alec Segaert just 100 metres from the finish line, after the Belgian had attacked less than 14 kilometres from the finish with genuine hopes of pulling off a major upset.

THE RACE

After a few kilometres, the breakaway of the day takes shape with Lionel Taminiaux (Lotto-Intermarchè), Sean Christian (Modern Adventure) and the duo from Tartelletto-Isorex Jelle Hartel and Jonah Killy. The four do not worry the peloton which, thanks to the work of the sprinters' teams, keeps the attackers under control for a long time, never allowing them more than four minutes.

With this setup, aside from crashes at various points involving Hugo Hofstetter (NSN), Pascal Ackermann (Team Jayco AlUla), Timothy Dupont (Tartelletto-Isorex), Hartthijs De Vries (Unibet Rose Rockets), Tom Crabbe (Team Flanders-Baloise), Ben Oliver (Modern Adventure), Javier Ibáñez (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Seppe Van Den Boer (Tudor), the race reaches the final 40 kilometres without particular incidents when several riders attempt in turn to break away from the main group.

All this agitation causes the gap of the leaders to reduce significantly until it disappears at the 31-kilometre mark when, apart from Killy, all the breakaway riders are caught. With great tenacity, the American continues undeterred in solitude until 21 kilometres from the finish when, shortly after Hofstetter's second crash of the day, the peloton also brings him back into the fold.

At this point, while both Fabio Jakobsen (Picnic PostNL) and Stanislaw Aniolkowski (Cofidis) drop out of contention, attacks and accelerations follow almost without interruption but the teams of the most favoured sprinters keep good watch and promptly counter every attempt until, starting just after passing the 14-kilometre mark from the finish, Alec Segaert (Bahrain-Victorious) attacks.

The Belgian indeed, also benefiting from the disruptive work carried out by his teammates behind him, accelerates decisively to gain more than 30 seconds on the chasers who, despite their efforts, find themselves still 20 seconds down with 1,500 metres to the line. The incredible solo from so far back seems it could genuinely succeed but suddenly the headwind, fatigue and the 4.2% gradient of Waregemstraat work against him and Segaert, metre after metre, sees his advantage reduce ever more rapidly. What definitively ends his hopes is the long pull of António Morgado (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) who, with the intention of launching Molano perfectly, closes the remaining seconds of the Belgian in just tens of metres, which means he is cruelly caught and passed just 100 metres from the finish line.

With the chances of the twenty-three-year-old from Roeselare evaporating at the crucial moment, it is Jasper Philipsen who prevails in the sprint, slipping ahead of Meeus and Molano with a victory that brings considerable confidence ahead of the major appointments in the coming weeks, starting with the Classicissima this weekend.

FINISHING ORDER

1. Jasper Philipsen (BEL/Alpecin-Premier Tech) - 4:16:19

2. Jordi Meeus (BEL/Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) - s.t.

3. Juan Sebastián Molano (COL/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) - s.t.

4. Emilien Jeannière (FRA/TotalEnergies) - s.t.

5. Milan Menten (BEL/Lotto-Intermarchè) - s.t.

6. Lukáš Kubis (SVK/Unibet Rose Rockets) - s.t.

7. Jenthe Biermans (BEL/Cofidis) - s.t.

8. Paul Penhoët (FRA/Groupama-FDJ United) - s.t.

9. Steffen De Schuyteneer (BEL/Lotto-Intermarchè) - s.t.

10. António Morgado (POR/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) - s.t.