Jasper Philipsen thrilled with teammate van der Poel's victory: "We had well-placed riders in all groups so the situation was perfect for us"

After Mathieu van der Poel, Jasper Philipsen was the happiest rider at the Milano-Sanremo finish line. The Belgian sprinter received the help of his Dutch teammate to win two stages of the Tirreno Adriatico and has now seen his teammate win the first monument of the season.

The sprinter explained after the race that having raced Tirreno-Adriatico before Sanremo has given van der Poel the necessary preparation to appear at the Poggio and be able to leave Tadej Pogacar behind: ´"He needed the Tirreno to have the legs that he showed during the race," he told reporters at the finish. "Today we have seen how we worked and how he had the legs and the motivation. He was strong, but even so we have to do what he has done."

We must highlight the incredible performance of Alpecin-Deceuninck as a block. In the first final cut at the Poggio both van der Poel and Soren Kragh Andersen entered and, just in case, Philipsen himself continued in the main pack. "When the gap was created at the Poggio we had well-placed riders in all groups so the situation was perfect for us," he concluded.

In the end the Belgian team was perfectly placed to take a strong result, but van der Poel did not need to play tactics, as he had the power in the Poggio di Sanremo to create a winning gap. Philipsen ended up sprinting through the line in 15th place.