VOIRON, France, July 22 (Reuters) - Belgium's Jasper Philipsen ended his frustrating wait for a stage win at this year's Tour de France on Wednesday, claiming victory on stage 17 after five failed attempts in bunch sprints in the opening two weeks of cycling's most prestigious race.
Philipsen, one of the fastest sprinters in the peloton, had finished in the top five on five occasions without crossing the line first during the sprinter-friendly stages earlier in the race.
On stage 17, the Belgian prevailed in a reduced-group sprint on a route that was initially drawn up for all-rounders.
"It's a relief," Philipsen said. "It was a rollercoaster of emotions in this Tour de France. The first stages were just horrible, I couldn't find myself, I couldn't find the feeling I was hoping for."
"I was just disappointed, angry that I couldn't take a stage win," the 28-year-old added.
"I didn't find my feeling, the team had to deal with it."
The 2024 Milano-Sanremo winner had been visibly frustrated following earlier stages, where he failed to add to his tally of Tour victories, currently standing at 11 overall wins.
"I just doubted myself. I did everything I could, we did amazing preparation with the team but I was just not myself," Philipsen said.
"Was it because of the heat? It was really horrible. Was it something else? I don't know, but I was not at the level I was hoping for.
"Mentally, it was a rollercoaster."
Philipsen is now trailing the green jersey holder Mads Pedersen by seven points, and acknowledged that "it will be very hard" to dethrone the Dane with three difficult mountainous stages ahead.
(Reporting by Vincent Daheron in VoironEditing by Toby Davis)
