Mathieu van der Poel the key to Philipsen's Milano-Sanremo victory: I had to go very deep to get Pogacar back

Mathieu van der Poel began his 2024 season this afternoon at Milano-Sanremo. Although he did not revalidate his title from the previous season, he closed down two crucial attacks that then led to Jasper Philipsen's ultimate sprint victory.

“That was no surprise. In my opinion that was not the smartest move. We also saw that they did not perform very well on the Cipressa, which we actually expected," van der Poel said of UAE Team Emirates' performance earlier in the race, in words to VTM. "Lidl-Trek, who had the strongest team for this, did very well. Jasper [Philipsen] had already told me that he had super legs.”

And as they did last year at Paris-Roubaix, they collaborated perfectly in an incredibly long race. Philipsen, more than just a sprinter, climbed the Poggio towards the back of the group completely hiding himself from the likes of Tadej Pogacar who were on the attack. Van der Poel did not attack, but responded to Pogacar.

“I then did everything right on the Poggio. I would have liked to ride to the finish with Tadej Pogacar. I didn't expect him to succeed at the end of the climb. I had to go very deep to get him back," he explains. With Philipsen back in the group at the end of the descent, van der Poel then hit the front to close down the attack of Matej Mohoric which was very dangerous. He also helped close down Tom Pidcock's late surge, which allowed the group to catch up with the Briton and provide the sprinters with an opportunity to win.

"In the end it is very beautiful. Of course I'd rather win myself, but I can enjoy this," he says, having also helped Philipsen to extreme success in 2023 including several Tour de France victories.

“We have already helped each other a lot. I give it to him. I hope that I will get a little better in the coming weeks. I didn't expect to be as good as last year. But I was definitely fine today,” he concluded.