“Next year the Cipressa under 8min?” - Mathieu van der Poel & Tadej Pogacar plan to make Milano-Sanremo 2026 even more spectacular
Cycling
Alongside the incredibly impressive Filippo Ganna, Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar ensured the 2025 edition of Milano-Sanremo was one for the history books. Two of the leading stars of their generation, the superstars gave each other their best shot and in the end it was Van der Poel that emerged victorious in a thriller.
In scenes not seen for a long, long time, the fight for victory at Milano-Sanremo 2025 was actually opened up on the Cipressa rather than the usual Poggio. In the process, the trio of Van der Poel, Pogacar and Ganna broke all kinds of records, including summitting the climb in less than nine minutes for the first time.
Afterwards, world champion Pogacar took to Instagram to reflect on the race. "Congrats Mathieu van der Poel and Filippo Ganna. Glad to share the podium with such legends, but don’t be fooled, I will be back for more with an amazing UAE Team Emirates - XRG, who did a superb job keeping me safe, leading me out, changing my clothes and feeding me," reflected the Slovenian superstar. "Couldn’t ask for better atmosphere these days, thank you boys, on to the next goals."
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Notably though, the top comment on Pogacar's post is from non other than Van der Poel himself. Cheekily, the Alpecin-Deceuninck leader replied: "Next year the Cipressa under 8min?” Never one to miss out, Pogacar responded to Van der Poel with a smart reply of his own: "I am analysing right now, we can go a bit faster. Like 59s."
Clearly, both were joking and an ascent of the Cipressa in under eight minutes is still some way off from reality. The truth is though, UAE Team Emirates - XRG maybe could have completed the climb faster than they did last weekend. Isaac del Toro had been expected to offer a big help in the leadout for a Pogacar attack, but with the Mexican slightly out of position at the foot of the climb, only Tim Wellens and Jhonatan Narvaez could offer their services.
Although it may not seem like too much difference, had Del Toro also been able to do a turn, maybe Pogacar would have able to attack a little more savagely, knowing he had less distance until the top of the climb! Perhaps we'll find out in 2026...
I don't think a single person in the world can go 8:00 or faster in race conditions behind other humans
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