The Belgian has shown that in addition to being an excellent sprinter he can also be a striker full of panache. It was he who wrote the scenario of the race, finally winning in front of his three breakaway companions, the Dutchman Olav Kooij and the Belgians Yves Lampaert and Frederik Frison.
The sprinter of the Alpecin formation, 15th in Milan-Sanremo where he had already shown his advantage on Saturday, signed his third success this season, the 25th of his career.
In the oven and mill in a race hardened by rain and sustained wind, Philipsen built his success by causing a first edge that put twenty men in the lead 54 kilometers from the line.
The double stage winner on the last Tour de France was then at the initiative of the quartet who took the lead fifteen kilometers from the line, trapping some contenders for victory in case of mass finish such as the Frenchman Arnaud Démare or the Dutch Fabio Jakobsen and Dylan Groenewegen.
"This is another World Tour victory, my third in 2023, on a race that has the value of a classic," said the winner at the end of an event, formerly "Three days of De Panne" became a one-day race in 2018.
"Given the windy conditions, we had to be very strong to win today. This is obviously pleasing in the run-up to the next races," he added.
This season, Philipsen had already won twice at Tirreno-Adriatico. It extends the good period of the Alpecin team after the success last weekend of the Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel in Milan-Sanremo.
Most of the riders at the start on Wednesday on the North Sea will meet on Friday at the E3 Grand Prix (qualified as a short Tour of Flanders), as well as in Ghent-Wevelgem on Sunday and Through Flanders in eight days before the apotheosis that will be the Ronde on April 2.
© 2023 AFP