Cycling

Philipsen trumps favorites in Sanremo!

Jasper Philipsen won the first big classic of the cycling year in a thrilling finish on Saturday! 

The 26-year-old Belgian won Milan-Sanremo in the sprint of a small group with all the top favorites, just ahead of the Australian Michael Matthews and high-flyer Tadej Pogacar from Slovenia. After 288 kilometers, less than half a tire length decided the longest race of the season for the sprint star from Team Alpecin-Fenix.

Pogacar: "I couldn't have done much better!"
Pogacar's impressive success at the Strade Bianche had put him in the role of favorite for the first of the five cycling monuments. His UAE Team Emirates pushed the pace. The 2020 and 2021 Tour de France winner attacked twice on the Poggio, but was unable to get away decisively. "We had a plan and we followed it. I had good legs, but maybe we were missing ten percent," said Pogacar. "I couldn't have done much better."

In the finish, the fastest man in the field surprised all the specialists. Philipsen stepped into the breach for his team-mate Mathieu van der Poel and took his first victory in one of the five most important one-day races. Van der Poel ran out of steam on the final straight, last year's winner of the "Classicissima di primavera" worked for Philipsen in the final and finished in 10th place. An attack by Matej Mohoric shortly before the finish was unsuccessful, as was another by Matteo Sobrero, team-mate of Austria's Marco Haller and Patrick Gamper at Bora.

Philipsen crossed the finish line after exactly 6:14:44 hours. With an average speed of 46.133 km/h, the 115th edition of the spring classic was the fastest in history. "It's incredible, I still can't believe it," said Philipsen. "Winning a monument is something you dream about."