Tadej Pogacar’s sharp attacks had no effect; instead, sprint king Jasper Philipsen showed off his top class on the Via Roma. The four-time stage winner of the last Tour de France won the spring classic Milan-Sanremo for the first time on Saturday in a photo finish. He achieved his greatest success at one of cycling’s monuments. After 288 kilometers, Philipsen won the sprint in a small group by a narrow margin ahead of the Australian Michael Matthews and the Slovenian top favorite Pogacar. German drivers played no role in the decision.
“Incredible. I can’t even realize that. Winning here is a dream. I had a good feeling right from the start. At Poggio the favorites had a look at each other and I was able to come back. After 300 kilometers, a sprint is a little different,” said Philipsen.
Pogacar, who started the season two weeks ago with an impressive solo victory in the Strade Bianche gravel race, launched two attacks at Poggio shortly before the finish. But last year’s winner and world champion Mathieu van der Poel, who finished tenth, led his rivals back and was able to celebrate the victory of his teammate Philipsen at the end.
Outliers are caught
“I am very proud of what Mathieu achieved in the final. We did it as a team,” added Philipsen. The explosive Belgian was almost unstoppable by the competition in the Tour sprints last year and also won the points classification.
“We had a plan. Ten percent were missing on the Cipresssa (penultimate climb). At Poggio it wasn’t hard enough to drive away. I had good legs and attacked twice. To win, everything has to go perfectly. But not everything was perfect,” said Pogacar after his next unsuccessful attempt at victory in Sanremo.
The plan was to move away from Cipressa alone. But things didn’t go well with the support of his UAE teammates. It was repeatedly seen how Pogacar contacted his sports management by radio. Pogacar had already tried Poggio at the Classicissima last year, but was then duped by van der Poel. Before the race really got going this time, the last of the original ten breakaways was caught eleven kilometers from the finish.
Italy is high on Pogacar’s agenda this year. In May, the 25-year-old wants to triumph at the Giro for the first time and then achieve the double at the Tour de France, which begins in Florence. The last time the climbing king Marco Pantani, who died in 2004, achieved this was 26 years ago.
David Lindenfeld Published/Updated: Recommendations: 7 David Lindenfeld Published/Updated: Recommendations: 5 A comment from David Lindenfeld Published/Updated: Recommendations: 5
None of the seven German drivers who started were able to put themselves in the spotlight. The last victory was won by John Degenkolb in 2015, but the Thuringian was not there this time. Erik Zabel achieved the greatest successes from a German perspective with four successes between 1997 and 2001.