With panache, Mathieu van der Poel won Milan – San Remo this Saturday. The 28-year-old Dutchman, who has already won the Tour of Flanders twice (2020 and 2022), won the great Italian classic for the first time. He won the first of the five Monuments of the season, 62 years after his French grandfather, the legendary Raymond Poulidor, who died in November 2019 and who followed his grandson’s exploits very closely.
The Alpecin team rider made the difference at the top of the last climb, the famous Poggio, by switching five seconds ahead of a group of prestigious riders (Tadej Pogacar, Filippo Ganna and Wout van Aert).
The cyclo-cross world champion finished alone. 15 seconds later, Ganna settled in a sprint, van Aert – great rival of van der Poel – and Pogacar, fresh winner of Paris-Nice and finally 4th. Anthony Turgis (9th) is the best Frenchman, as in the two previous editions. Julian Alaphilippe fell without gravity, at the back of the peloton, in the long descent towards the Riviera.
Van der Poel with angels
“I couldn’t imagine a better scenario, let go of the first Dutchman to win Milan – San Remo since Hennie Kuiper in 1985. I wanted to attack at the end of Poggio. It was a race that I really wanted to win. The way I won was beyond what I expected. »
“I was really focused on this race for quite a while,” he added. I needed racing days to get back to my best and today I think was my best. »
Pogacar, the man in form at the start of the season, had fallen, according to RAI, even before the official kick-off, given for the first time in the greater suburbs of Milan, at Abbiategrasso. No damage to the Slovenian, hilarious glimpse at the real start, as a fan dusted off his left shoulder with a respectful hand gesture, and others begged for a selfie.
