Jasper Philipsen and Mathieu van der Poel celebrated together after combining perfectly to give Alpecin-Deceuninck a second consecutive victory at Milan-San Remo.
Last year, Van der Poel attacked over the top of the Poggio to win alone. This year he joined Tadej Pogačar on the descent but opted to sacrifice his chances in the small group to work for Philipsen.
In the final two kilometres, he chased after late attackers Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious), Matteo Sobrero (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) to give his teammate a shot at victory in the sprint.
It was exemplary teamwork, a special friendship, and a shared victory.
“On the descent of the Poggio I begged Mathieu on the radio not to work with Pogačar because I had great legs,” Philipsen revealed post-race.
“I have to thank him for what he did. I think he did a wonderful job bringing back all the attacks and keeping it back for a sprint. I probably would have won without him. We can be so proud as a team to win Milan-San Remo twice.”
Van der Poel admitted he had hoped to ride to the finish with Pogačar but then switched to Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Plan B in the 12-rider finish.
“Oh, how I would have loved to have ridden to the finish with Tadej,” Van der Poel admitted. “But then Jasper immediately indicated that he still had good legs. We are always honest with each other and fortunately, I was able to chase Mohorič and the others. I had to do it, there was no time to linger.
“We can be very proud of our team. It is not easy to win this Monument two years in a row. Of course, I’d rather win myself, but I can enjoy this too.”
Philipsen admitted he felt the pressure after the world championed his team leader sacrificed to ensure Milan-San Remo ended in a sprint.
“I was really afraid because I didn’t want to fuck up,” he admitted.
“I’ve fucked up sprints this year and so if I’d lost this one it would have been a missed opportunity for the rest of my life.”
Philipsen naturally praised Van der Poel’s generosity.
“Mathieu is the last guy to think about himself, he likes to help his teammates, like I helped him at last year’s Paris-Roubaix.
“I’ll always remember and be thankful for what he did to give me a chance to win a monument. I might never get the chance again in my career.”
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