"This defies all the laws of cycling" - Pogacar's crash stuns José de Cauwer, who wonders if Wout Van Aert would've done the same if he hadn't crashed
CyclingSunday, 22 March 2026 at 17:15
The pre-Cipressa crash was the race-marking moment of Milano-Sanremo this year. It also played a big role in the race of many favourites, something which Sporza commentators José de Cauwer and Karl Vannieuwkerke discussed following the first monument of the season.
"They crashed quite a bit before the Cipressa. Actually, it was abnormal that they crashed there. Normally, it would be closer to the foot, not in such a gentle left-hand bend," De Cauwer argued in the microphones of Sporza. The tension and extreme fight for positioning led to this, a scenario that didn't come as a surprise - however the quality of those who went down might not have been expected.
Pogacar's return, aided by UAE and then launched by Brandon McNulty and Isaac del Toro on the Cipressa, was a sight to behold for the Belgian: "There, at that moment, turning onto the Cipressa last at that speed, rolling up everyone, and still taking the top time. That is madness. You think 'this can't be done' so often that you gradually start to believe it can."
Vannieuwkerke was equally stunned with the prowess that the World Champion was pulling off in real time: "Personally, I thought 'this can't be'. But if you had said that Van Aert would still have finished third? Then I would have answered 'no way' too."
"Wout van Aert is certainly fine. That has been a very encouraging sight for us. Yet this defies all the laws of cycling. At 32 kilometers from the finish line, he takes a heavy tumble and is lucky that he doesn't suffer any lasting consequences. To then fly around on adrenaline for 45 minutes is crazy."
"Who knows, maybe he would have made it solo, had he not crashed. That ability to overtake an entire peloton, you shouldn't underestimate that."
How important is Roubaix?
If Pogacar managed to perform like this in Sanremo, leading to him dropping and beating Mathieu van der Poel; it leaves room to question if there has been a growing gap over the past 12 months which may favour him at Paris-Roubaix.
"But Pogacar's career is much bigger than whether or not he wins all 5 Monuments. What are we talking about? That means nothing, it's just a number," de Cauwer argues already, putting forward that in a career with so much success already, a win in Roubaix wouldn't have a massive impact.
Great signs from Wout Van Aert
The two were very surprised with how Wout Van Aert rode back into contention for the race and then still attacked and held off the peloton to make it to the podium as well, marking the sole Belgian presence on the men's race podium (whilst ont he women's side, Lotte Kopecky put the country's flag on the top step.
"Suppose Pogacar rides away with Mathieu van der Poel and Van Aert joins them, I think it still wouldn't amount to anything for the latter. But the fact that Pidcock was able to follow in that way also showed that Pogacar had to put a lot of energy into that chase. So suppose Wout had escaped the crash, I would have liked to see how it would have turned out," Vannieuwkerke wonders. "I thought he was really strong."
Although Sanremo was a goal, the cobbled monuments are Van Aert's big dreams, and he has also beaten all odds to make it onto the podium. "This performance is going to do him an incredible amount of good. A podium in Milano-Sanremo must give him courage," de Cauwer concluded.
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- Thats a fair point. Matthieu didn't look good after the crash&chase and it surely drained him. But you shouldn't discredit the influence the crash had on Tadej too. Basically we could say the chances had even out if they both fell and cheased. Maybe Matthieu would have stayed with them. Maybe it would look the same. Or maybe Tadej's attack would be even more devastating. We cannot know it. Everything will remain just a pure speculation.BenAflec22-03-2026
- MVDP had 3 bloody/cut fingers due it the crash-- no question that affected his performance (as he said)-- i think he would have stayed with Pog & won the sprint otherwise....Xrider5122-03-2026
- Quintana had a great period from 2103 to 2016, but eventually faded into the background. Still, 51 wins is impressive! The article leaves out the doping and painkiller allegations that derailed his career a few years ago, for which he lost much respect. It’s good to see him leave on his own terms, and maybe one of his accelerations will stick again, this year - but he’s a rider from another decade, and I doubt they will. Still fun to watch, though!RidesHills22-03-2026
- Pogacar seems motivated by losses (each loss makes him more focused on the win), and by crashes. This crash led to a chase, an attack at just the right moment, and so on. The 2025 Strade Bianchi crash led to a chase, a truce with Pidcock, and an attack at just the right moment. The 2021 Strade Bianchi win came after he was part of that truly crazy wind-blown insanity (with Alaphilippe crashing and wisely leaping out of the way of those who crashed after him). In all three cases, he was up and on his bike as quickly as possible, faster than nearly anyone else, pure focus, pure determination. It’s like he sprints away from the crash, rushing to get back. Perhaps the crashes focus his mind even more than before and produce what seems like an angry response, “not like this, how dare you take away my chance!”RidesHills22-03-2026
- You forget him leading our Jasper the disaster after he begged in MSR a couple of years back - vdp totally could have won that year as wellCrashjames22-03-2026
- Looking at the strade numbers it seems Pog was 40w faster in 26 than 25 - more than 10% - at this stage in his career to get 10% faster in a year? Sadly it makes me wonder how that’s possible without “hep”Crashjames22-03-2026
- The only negative thing about this edition was that the sprinters had absolutely no chance. It reduces the spectacle when there aren't any sprinters who can contend. A route change can be done to fix this. Instead of starting in and winding about on the south side of the Po plain, the race should start in Novara. That'd mean that in the first 50 km they'd lose 80 m of altitude (in the current route they gain that amount instead). Novara is well on the north side of the Po, while Pavia is right next to it, so that'd be more faithful to the Milano to Sanremo idea. The second change is that Passo di Cadibona should be used instead of Passo del Turchino. This rises to an altitude of 459 m as opposed to the 591 that Passo del Turchino rises to. That's a very big difference which makes it better for the sprinters. Colle di Cadibona is also significant as it the official boundary between the Alps and the Appenines. If the tunnel is used then the highest point is 435 m. That route follows the river valley of the Bormida (as opposed to the current route which follows its tributary the Orba), and so the pass is lower. After that the riders would descend to Savona. The final 105 km would remain unchanged. Colle di Cadibona would be summitted 125 km from the finish, and though that is later than the 150 km that separate Passo del Turchino from the finish, that has no impact because it is an easier climb, so gentle it's not possible to call it one. With these route changes the race would be 298 km with 2010 m of climbing. For context in 2026 the race was 298 km with 2545 m of climbing. That reduction by 535 m is very significant for the sprinters. Crucially, these changes are all to the parts of the race which are not decisive at all, so the rest of the race is the same.
Rafionain-Glas22-03-2026 - As Orla Chennoui said "It's easy to say you let him go when you couldn't follow him" Unlike in 2025 the pace in the chasing group was very high, as they never gave up hope of catching Pogačar and Co. Lidl--Trek pulled very hard and the gap was very small. That meant that everyone was dead by the end. Wout, on the other hand, had to chase back alot, and due to the increase to pace on the Cipressa he only made it back before the Poggio. Wout could ride his own pace and didn't do any big efforts so he attacked. No-one lets anyone go with 2 km to go in Milano-Sanremo. Wout was just strongerRafionain-Glas22-03-2026
- I MVDP is a team player when he needs to be, but perhaps not as much as we would like him to be. But to be fair…Look at all those lead outs he’s done for Jasper. Alpecin had Jasper get him back after Cipressa but he had to fight for his own position. They didn’t help and guide him the way that POG had McNulty. I used to dislike MVDP because I started watching cycling through cyclocross. No my opinion is he just needs to win. So sometimes he looks selfish, but he was more than willing to sacrifice himself at the Tour de France and other races for Jasper.Cbastnagel22-03-2026
- I wonder if perhaps MVDP came back too quickly after cyclocross and potentially is living on borrowed form. He started winning right away when he came back to the road. It’s just a theory. A more important point though is that Tom Pitcock stayed with Pog This whole POG and MVDP domination thing is getting old. I find myself watching the women’s racing as it is less predictable. So I was Disney-Jacked to see Tom and even WVA give us so hope for more dynamic competition.Cbastnagel22-03-2026
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