“It will be extremely difficult for me to win Milano-Sanremo” - Jasper Philipsen on his chances of victory at La Classicissima

Having opened his account for the season with a victory on stage 2 of Tirreno-Adriatico, Jasper Philipsen is now looking ahead to this weekend, as he is set to take on Milano-Sanremo alongside last year’s winner Mathieu van der Poel.

Philipsen was not on his usual dominant form at Tirreno-Adriatico though, as although he took the win on the opening sprint stage of the race, he was outsprinted by Jonathan Milan on two occasions and was unable to maintain his sprint on the final stage to San Benedetto del Tronto.

With the first monument of the season this weekend, the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider is not going into the race with any expectations of victory, as he said in an interview with Het Laatste Nieuws that “you can have had the best legs and the best preparation, when Pogačar starts attacking, or when Mathieu takes off again on the Poggio like he did last year, then I know it will be extremely difficult for me to win Milan-Sanremo”.

The last sprinter to win La Classicissima was Arnaud Démare in 2016, with every subsequent winner going solo or winning a sprint from a small group. Other sprinters that have won the race previously include Alexander Kristoff, John Degenkolb and Mark Cavendish, but it appears to be a rarer phenomenon in recent years.

On his chances of victory on Saturday, Philipsen said “the only scenario in which I can win is that I cross the Poggio in a small group, that I have the legs for it, that I do not allow myself to be boxed in and that we sprint for victory with a small group. Getting over the Poggio is one thing, controlling the sprint is another matter”.

Ahead of the weekend, Philipsen will be racing at the Danilith Nokere Koerse, as he looks to find that last bit form in his preparation for Saturday’s monument. He will be up against his former teammate and last year’s winner Tim Merlier, as well as the likes of Fabio Jakobsen, Pascal Ackermann, Arvid De Kleijn, Gerben Thijssen, Milan Menten and Elia Viviani.