It is hard to believe that across 117 editions of Milan-San Remo a new script would be written. Such was the case Saturday when three contenders crashed 32km from the finish and two of them, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), regrouped and battled to podium finishes.
The World Champion picked up his same bike after the crash just 6km short of the preferred attacking climb of the Cipressa and launched several vicious accelerations to close down the peloton quickly. He would go on to win his first La Classicissima in dramatic style.
Defending Milan-San Remo winner Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) also picked himself off the pavement and for a while rode with Pogačar at the front of the race, but due to an injured hand from the crash fell off the pace on the Poggio.
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It was Van Aert, however, who had to wait for a team car after the crash to get a new bike, along with teammate Matteo Jorgenson. While eyes were on Pogačar blasting away for a sprint showdown with Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5), the unexpected blast came from Van Aert for third place.
“If the moment came, the plan was to go for it. Unfortunately, it wasn’t for the win, but after the crash and my bike change, this was the best possible outcome,” Van Aert said in a team statement about his late attack.
“We fought back well as a team and kept believing in a strong result. I’m very happy with my podium finish.”
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