Albert Withen Philipsen is only 17 years old but is already attracting the attention of top cycling teams eager to recruit promising talents from Denmark. According to the agent Alex Carera, in an interview with Ekstra Bladet, there are four teams considering signing Philipsen.
“The situation is clear,” says Carera, who is also the agent for Tadej Pogacar. “Four teams remain, and they have a chance to hire Albert Philipsen for the future. This concerns INEOS Grenadiers, Lidl-Trek, BORA-hansgrohe, and UAE Team Emirates.”
In September, according to Carera, there were still six teams in the running. In addition to the mentioned teams, Alpecin-Deceuninck and Jumbo-Visma were also in the mix.
Carera thinks that it will become clearer before the end of the year, but he states that no choice can be made yet. This is partly due to the departure of INEOS Grenadiers’ team principal, Rod Ellingworth.
Series of conditions for the signing
Carera also has a list of conditions. “There has to be a long-term sponsor. We need certainty. Secondly, Albert’s coach, Barry Augustyn, has to be present.
He is not only a coach; he is also important in the mental aspect. The third point is the role in the team, and the fourth is the Mountain Bike team. Because he not only has to ride on the road but also in Mountain Bike.
A Training Team option could be a possibility. Philipsen is expected to debut in 2025. Initially, he would immediately step into a WorldTeam, but Carera also sees another possibility.
“For 2025, the idea is that he races six months with a training team and then six months with the WorldTeam.” However, this is not certain as INEOS Grenadiers, for example, currently does not have a training team.
2023: a year of dominance on the world stage
Philipsen had a particularly successful season. The junior athlete, in his first year in the category, became the World Road Champion, European Road Champion, and European and World Mountain Bike Champion. He is also the Road and Time Trial Champion of Denmark.
