Philipsen wins Renewi Tour with three stage victories

Jasper Philipsen completed a dominant week in Belgium by winning the fifth and final stage of the Renewi Tour in Leuven and securing the overall classification. The Alpecin-Premier Tech rider finished ahead of Luca Mozzato and Mike Teunissen to claim his third stage victory of the race.

The finale was not a formality. Jenno Berckmoes, only four seconds behind overall, attacked with six kilometres remaining, but Philipsen personally covered the move. Left without a lead-out after a late crash, he used Carl-Frederik Bévort's acceleration before launching a decisive sprint.

Philipsen won stages 2, 4 and 5 after placing fourth on the opening day. The result is the first UCI WorldTour stage-race overall title of his career, adding a new dimension to a record built mainly on sprint stages and one-day races.