Tadej Pogacar, Mathieu van der Poel and Filippo Ganna crack three decades old climbing record on Cipressa by more than 20 seconds
Cycling
The 2025 Milano-Sanremo was decided on Cipressa and it was for the first time in decades that the penultimate climb of La Primavera held such significance for the race outcome.
Nobody in their right sense would've attack on the Cipressa (5.6 km at 4.3%) - a climb the riders top with more than 20 kilometers to go. But the again, Tadej Pogacar is not afraid to venture on such adventure. Everyone knew what was up when the Slovenian ordered his teammates to absolutely smash the bottom slopes of Cipressa, yet only Mathieu van der Poel, Filippo Ganna (and briefly Romain Grégoire) could keep up with Slovenian's accelerations.
Obviously, the leading trio must've ridden up this climb pretty fast. How fast? Well, they've broken the revious record that stood for nearly three decades by more than twenty seconds.
Back in 1996, the duo Gabriele Colombo and Alexander Gontchenkov attacked away from peloton on the Cipressa, bridged to the breakaway that was still up on the road and ultimately fought it out for the victory.
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Fine by me, was just trying to understand why you felt Tadej’s and MVDP’s 2 per year was more interesting than 3 and 1 or with the others thrown in the mix. Up to now results of the two eras are not very different but it may have been more interesting to compare the number of races where both actually CONFRONTED each other. I’m pretty sure TP and MVDP don’t have a hope in hell of offering nearly as much rivalry, many years the other 2 did 2 or 3 monuments together, in 1975 they even both did all 5! And that’s without counting classics. Compared to that it sure looks as if today’s riders try to avoid the others. You’re right to spend your time otherwise if you prefer I enjoy learning stuff from people with their personal view, whether I agree or not, debate is a great tool for that but obviously no longer fashionable in the age of Twitter where stating is more important than reasoning. Enjoy the racing/your rides, whatever.
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- The simple fact that we have a champion like Tadej looking to break down the barrier of what's been the cycling norm for the last 35-40 years is something that should be applaudedslappers6627-03-2025
- Also, plenty of these dubious characters are actually still very much involved in current teams but nobody seems to care much that they accompany some of the most popular riders.Mistermaumau27-03-2025
- I understand but then again, it’s free and apart from a tsunami of ads, doesn’t hold you hostage to subscribe or share data, not many others offer a quick broad overview like that. If you have time to read everything in-depth you can do the rounds yourself or subscribe to quality material, nothing stops you paying to filter undesired content.Mistermaumau27-03-2025
- It's unlikely he can win, but he'll definitely have fun! Tadej loves and enjoys cycling: his passion, not just his job. Most important thing: he's NOT AFRAID OF LOSING. Other top riders only race if they can win (terror of losing, fragile egos). I adore you Tadej. Stay safe.
maria2024202427-03-2025 - Agreed but kind of off this comes from DGMistermaumau27-03-2025
- He should be pretty capable on technical terrain. His cyclocross bike handling skills are elite, and that is not easy. I do agree he needs some time back on his mtb, as it is a bit different, but if he focuses well on that xco title goal, he can reach it no doubt.JoshuaCharter27-03-2025
- I saw the ending, the riders were all over the place trying to move up. It was only a matter of time till somebody crashed.abstractengineer27-03-2025
- My issue is that this site proactively solicits the commentary of one disgraced doper after another. It's like they can't find anyone who didn't leave the sport under a cloud of shame. I think I'm done with this site.critguy26-03-2025
- The finale of this race was an absolute mess, and the last crash that took out 1/2 of the field was caused when a double width road very suddenly funneled into a single lane, and riders had nowhere to go. I find it amazing how some of these courses get approved in the first place. So much for the UCI's campaign for improved rider safety, because if they actually cared, the organizers wouldn't have been allowed to run the finale on this parcours.
santiagobenites26-03-2025 - I hope Wout can come back. He has had 3 terrible crashes--not on par with Froome or Bernal, but at his level just a fraction of a percent is all that separates the grand champions of this new generation. Even if he is back all the way physically, those abrupt confrontations with pavement and mortality take a psychic toll, especially for a father of young kids.
Barney26-03-2025