Mathieu van der Poel won Milan-Sanremo on Saturday afternoon. In this Italian cycling classic, he was ahead of the Filippo Ganna and World Champion Tadej Pogacar in the final sprint. Earlier this Saturday, Marianne Vos from Babyloniënbroek came in second with the women.
It was mainly Van der Poel and Pogacar (SLO) who made a great fight in the final of this first spring race. At 24 kilometers from the finish, on the Cipressa, the penultimate climb, they had escaped the Italian Ganna. After that it was mainly Pogacar who set the tone. He thought he could make the difference on the Poggio.
He tried to shake off Van der Poel several times, but in vain. With 6 kilometers to go, Van der Poel drove away, but he too was outdated.
Van der Poel struck hard in the final meters: his jump Was the other two refugees too powerful. Van der Poel won Milan-Sanremo for the second time after 289 kilometers. Second was Ganna, even before Pogacar. In 2023, Van der Poel won Milan-Sanremo for the first time.
“It was the right tactic to start the sprint.”
“It was the right tactic to enter the sprint when I saw the board with ‘200 meters,” Van der Poel said afterwards. “I was enormously focused and knew that Tadej would be strong. I felt good, although the beginning was terrible with that cold and rain. It happily cleared up at the coast. On the Cipressa, Tadej was already impressive and I also knew that he would try to solve me on the Poggio. That was not possible to stay on the top.”
Van der Poel said to be ‘Super Happy’ with this victory: “It is already an honor to be able to stand on a stage with these two incredible cyclists, but that I was able to defeat them is great.”
At the press conference, Van der Poel said that he already had the right shape in Tirreno-Adriatico earlier this season. “Although DEVDAAR was just not able to win a ride. But I also knew that I would get even better with a week’s rest.” That was necessary because Van der Poel himself was also surprised. “That three men come first on the Cipressa and stay away, I have never seen it. This will be talked about for a long time.”
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Early attack
In tradition, a number of riders attacked early after the start. It mainly concerned Italians of smaller teams. The peloton was still quiet on the first two slopes, the Capo Mele and the Capo Cervo. On the Capo Berta, the leading group fell apart, with the peloton approaching. The Italian Martin Marcellusi remained the last, but he was outdated just before the climb of the Cipressa. The Pogacar (UAE Teamemirates) team in particular had done a lot of headwork in that phase. The Belgian Tim Wellens took the leading position on the climb. His fellow countryman Philipsen cost his place in the first group.
The Ecuadoran Jhonatan Narváez took over the headwork from Wellens, with his leader Pogacar in his wheel. The 26-year-old Slovenian started his attack 3 kilometers below the top. Ganna, van der Poel and Romain Grégoire locks. The Frenchman had to let the three soon go. While Pogacar continued to accelerate, Ganna also had to catch his breath, but the Italian joined again. Once downstairs the three had a margin of 45 seconds.
On the Poggio, the last climb with the top at 5 kilometers from the finish, it was again Pogacar who attacked. Van der Poel dived into his wheel, Ganna could not follow. Even with a third and fourth attempt, the Slovenian did not succeed in losing his only remaining competitor. Ganna followed at the top at ten seconds and he found a connection again in sight of the harbor. Van der Poel surprised his fellow refugees by using his sprint early and won convincingly.
