Dutchman Mathieu Van der Poel won this Saturday in Milan-San Remo, a race known as the first monument of the season. The victory has a special note for the cyclist as it comes 62 years after his French grandfather Raymond Poulidor won the same race.
UAE Team Emirates set the pace and Tim Wellens took the lead down the final straight before handing it to teammate Tadej Pogacar, but Filippo Ganna, Wout van Aert and Van der Poel waited on the final descent.
Then Van der Poel launched his attack at the top of the Poggio with 5.5km to go and charged to the front, gaining just enough advantage to win the race while the other three riders at the front fought for second place fought city entrance.
After almost six and a half hours, the Dutchman crossed the finish line with his arms raised. Ganna was second ahead of Van Aert and Pogacar was fourth. The win is Van der Poel’s third at a memorial after winning the Tour of Flanders in 2020 and 2022.
“It’s special, not just because my grandfather won it. It’s a monument that every cyclist would like to win one day,” said the Dutchman with a smile. “I can’t think of a better scenario than this… It wasn’t as difficult as in previous years, I felt my legs were very fresh. I knew I wanted to place an attack at the end of the poggio. This is a race that I really wanted to win.”
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