Ex-world champion beats world champion: In a gripping classic Milan-Sanremo, the Dutch secures his second victory after 2023.
Mathieu van der Poel hit his hands in front of his face and then sank into his friend Roxanne in his arms, while Tadej Pogacar frustrated on the Via Roma. The Dutch ex-world champion won the highly dramatic duel of cycling giants against the Slovenian world champion and triumphed for the second time at Milan-Sanremo. A career wish remains unmatched for the Pogacar, spoiled by the victory – he wider the Primavera victory.
“It is difficult to understand,” said Van der Poel at the finish: “It is incredible in itself. But creating it against two such great opponents is just great.” Between “MVDP” and Pogacar, who had died in the final according to all the rules of art, the Italian Filippo Ganna, Olympic champion on the train and twice a time trial world champion.
After 289 km of the 116th edition of the longest classic, which had started in the rain and freezing cold south of Milan, the power pack of Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) was in the final as expected and won after 6:22:53 hours on the magnificent mile of San Remo. “In the beginning I felt terrible, then it went by the sea,” said van der Poel. His team -mate Jasper Philipsen, who won last year, had no chance this time as a result of a racing fall during the week.
Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) had attacked the Poggio increase several times shortly before the finish, but was unable to shake off his great rivals. The 26-year-old had already finished third in the previous year, before that fifth (2022) and fourth (2023). In the final, Pogacar did not look as fresh as usual, the man in the rainbow jersey had fallen with his Strade-Bianche victory two weeks earlier and had suffered bad grazes.
Van der Poel uses correct tactics
For Van der Poel it was the seventh success in one of the five cycling monuments after three victories on the tour of the Flanders and two successes at Paris-Roubaix. In contrast to Pogacar, he has not yet triumphed at Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Lombardy tour.
On the first 200 kilometers down to the Mediterranean and along the coast towards the west, the usual happened: not much. The mandatory outlier group formed early, the teams with the favorites stayed back over hours – no outlier has secured victory since 1991.
It was only on the way to the Cipressa that there was a lot of movement, Pogacar and his UAE team made the race at the top brutally quickly – and then attacked around 24 km before the finish on the neuralgic increase. The last time in 1996 had a success on the Cipressa, and Pogacar did not get away alone this time, van der Poel stayed on his rear wheel, and Ganna also came along.
At Poggio, Pogacar tried again and again, only Ganna at times lost the connection. Van der Poel stayed calm and put on a long target. “That was the right tactic,” he said.