Perfection doesn’t exist in professional cycling, there are too many variables and too much human suffering involved. Yet Mathieu van der Poel seems in perfect form and has the perfect talents and race-smart tactics to win Milan-San Remo for a third time on Saturday. The Dutchman is the archetypal Spring Classics winner of his generation. He and even Tadej Pogačar seem to know it too.
Pogačar desperately wants to win Milan-San Remo but knows nature has dealt the Alpecin-Premier Tech leader a better hand of cards for La Classicissima. He can win Grand Tours and virtually any other race but when he lines up in Pavia on Saturday morning, deep down Pogačar knows Van der Poel can beat him. He has done it twice already and that must be unnerving for the UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader.
In 2023, Van der Poel surged away from Pogačar near the top of the Poggio and won alone in the Via Roma in a faultless execution of the Milan-San Remo winner’s unwritten manual.
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Last year the Alpecin-Premier Tech leader was able to stay with Pogačar when he made his all-out attack on the earlier Cipressa climb. He then responded to all the Slovenian’s countermoves on the Poggio and then won again in the Via Roma with a long-range power sprint. Pogačar was arguably stronger in both races but Van der Poel raced far more intelligently and crucially was far faster in the Via Roma sprint.
“I think my form is more than good enough to win Milan-San Remo,” Van der Poel said ominously during the final days of this year’s Tirreno-Adriatico.
“I’m happy with the preparation I’ve had. Now I need to do more or less the same thing as last year, with a few extra details here and there. Then I should be fine.”
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