Milan-San Remo winner Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Desseuninck) will make his first race appearance since Paris-Roubaix in the Baloise Belgian Tour starting Wednesday as he looks to defend his green jersey in the Tour de France.

The Belgian has established himself as the Tour's best sprinter and the peloton's top speedman with four stage wins in a world-class leadout by riders Mathieu Van der Pol and Alpecin Deceuninck.

It will be an important chance for the Belgian to get back into the rhythm of racing after a two-month rest period during which he has been training at altitude.

"In the past I have participated in races like Eschborn-Frankfurt, but without much success," Philipsen said at the pre-race press conference.

"Having watched many of the races on television, I myself am looking forward to returning. Still, given my goals for this summer, it makes the most sense to take a two-month break, both mentally and physically."

Philipsen stressed that although this race is a preparation race for the Tour, "I always try to be in it to win it," which is no surprise for the sprinter who had the most success last season.

"I always aim as high as possible, but probably start with one win," Philipsen said.

"Either way, it's good to know where you stand. It's a result of my training, but I haven't raced in a long time."

"I haven't raced in two months, so I've lost my racing rhythm a little bit.

The 26-year-old appeared in the second season of Netflix's recently released Tour de France: he, Van der Poer, and team co-owners Christophe and Philippe Roudoft are portrayed as the drama's antagonists due to their aggressive sprint tactics. They are portrayed as.

Van der Pol, who won the overall at last year's Baloise Belgian Tour, will not be joining his sprinters, as he has not raced since the classics and chose to return at the Tour before taking on the Paris Olympics. As such, his aggressive and sometimes over-the-line lead-out service should be on display.

For Philipsen, however, his participation in the French Grand Tour was a surprise.

"I trained for the sprints and it went well. The bigger surprise for me was that Mathieu [Van der Pol]'s program will also be in this year's Tour.

"If you saw how successful he was last year, you know we can use him well again."

Philipsen admitted that the Dutchman might not participate in every sprint as he did in 2023, but he assured that he would give everything for the team whenever possible.

If the Dutchmen do not participate, Philipsen is left with Jonas Ricard and Rob Gess, both of whom excel in bunch sprint finishes.

He is still not quite sure where his form lies, but has confirmed that he will be gunning for the green jersey again, which he won in class in 2023.

"It's hard to estimate (my current form). We had good high-altitude training, but it is difficult to repeat what we did last year. But it will be difficult to repeat what we did last year.

"It's hard to guess," said Philipsen.

"The green jersey is my ambition again. But everything has to go right from the start and of course the final stage will be tough. I haven't thought yet whether I will ride to Nice or not.