To be described by Tadej Pogačar as "an amazing rider" is a compliment anybody in the current peloton would be more than happy to accept, but for a rising talent like Denmark's Albert Philipsen it surely mattered even more.
The 19-year-old Lidl-Trek racer received that particular praise from Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) after taking second in Tre Valli Varesine on Tuesday behind the victorious Slovenian star, when the Dane outsprinted Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling) for the runner's up spot at the front of the chasing peloton.
Coming hard on the heels of an already notable tenth place in the Giro dell'Emilia, the Varesine podium is Philipsen's biggest result to date in a one-day Classic.
As the Dane told CyclingProNet afterwards, he hadn't expected to be able to play such an important role in the tough Italian event, but he had no complaints about that, either.
"It was a super-hard race, I didn't feel too good in the first part, with a little bit of fatigue from yesterday [Coppa Bernocchi]," he said later.
"But after a couple of hours the legs started getting a bit better, and I could slowly get into the race. The team did really well at keeping us in front and we rode really well together, so it was just a super-nice experience."
Phlipsen's podium came after his teammate Quinn Simmons had turned in several attacks, on a day when Lidl-Trek clearly wanted to try and make the running as best they could.
"We wanted to race aggressively when we got closer to the end. Quinn was really strong today, and unfortunately it didn't hold to the finish line, but then me and Toms [Skujiņš] tried to keep it going when we got back up to the group.
"To be honest, I didn't really expect it, so I'm super happy with my performance."
Even before his latest top ride, Philipsen had already shone brightly in 2025, with one major highlight a victory in Paris-Roubaix Espoirs, when riding as part of the Lidl-Trek Future Racing team in April.
In a promising sign of year-round consistency, the former junior Mountain Bike World Champion also claimed the best young riders classification in his WorldTour debut in the Santos Tour Down Under in January.
Italy is a country which seems to smile on Philipsen, too: he was already in the thick of the action in the same country's Classics earlier this year, taking part in a long breakaway in Strade Bianche in March – prior to Pogačar once again laying down the law.
Following his breakout result in the Tre Valli Varesine, Philipsen now heads north for the final race of his 2025 season at Paris-Tours.
