Mathieu van der Poel has won the 114th edition of the classic Milan-San Remo. After several failed breakaway attempts, he broke away from the leading group just before the top of the Poggio, about five kilometers from the finish. The group of pursuers could no longer catch up with him on the dangerous descent.
With a lead of 15 seconds, Van der Poel crossed the line cheering. He is the first Dutch winner of Milan-Sanremo since Hennie Kuiper in 1985. Before that, Arie den Hartog (1965) and Jan Raas (1977) were the only other Dutch winners.
Van der Poel follows in the footsteps of his French deceased grandfather, Raymond Poulidor, who won the race 62 years (1961) ago.
“I really wanted to win this race,” said Van der Poel afterwards. “On the Cipressa I was still fresh and I planned an attack on top of the Poggio. I got a gap and that in a race that every rider wants on his honors list. I can’t imagine a better scenario.”
Van der Poel had not yet made too much of an impression this road season, after he had won the cyclocross world title in Hoogerheide at the beginning of February. “Since I started training for this spring I was focused on this race. The Tirreno-Adriatico didn’t go the way I had hoped. But I knew I needed race kilometers to get to my best level. I think I got there today arrived.”
Back problems
Van der Poel finished third last year behind the Slovenian winner Matej Mohoric. He then suffered from back problems.
Behind the Brabander, the Italian Filippo Ganna sprinted to second place, ahead of the Belgian Wout van Aert and the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar.
The Milan-Sanremo course has 294 kilometers. The race is seen as one of the five monuments of cycling, together with the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, among others.