Mathieu van der Poel was the first monument of the season when he won Milan-Sanremo this Saturday, thanks to a sharp attack 5km from the finish.
Behind the Dutch in the Alpecin-Deceuninck formation, Italy’s Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) finished second in a group of three, ahead of Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates). Got a sprint.
The Dutchman, who has already won the Tour of Flanders twice in 2020 and 2022, has won the monument for the second time in his career.
Italians Mirko Maestri (Eolo Cometa), Samuel Livy (Eolo Cometa), Alessandro Tonelli (Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè), Samuel Zocarat (Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè), Belarusian Alexandr Riabushenko (Astana), Ethiopian Negasi Haylu Abreha (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team), Swiss Alexandre Balmer (Jayco AlUla), Dutchman Jan Maas (Jayco AlUla), Frenchman Aloïs Charrin (Tudor) Pro Cycling Team ).
Over several kilometers, the favorite team led the peloton and closed the breakaway gap. The leading group counted only six members at the junction with the peloton at the foot of the Cipressa, the penultimate difficulty of the day, 27 km from the finish.
Tadej Pogacar’s UAE Emirates team set the pace at Cipressa but failed to overtake the other favorites. Germany’s Nils Politt (Bora Hansgrohe) launched an attack on the flats after Mathieu van der Poel accelerated downhill, but was quickly pulled back.
The race then came to life at Poggio, with Tim Wellens making the first acceleration with Pogacar on the wheel, and the Slovenian launching his attack 6.6 km from the finish, van der Poel, van Aert, Only Gunna could follow him.
Van der Poel then delivered a decisive attack 5km from the finish to claim his first victory of the season.
