"This will definitely carry over to the Tour of Flanders" - Jose De Cauwer believes Mathieu van der Poel has mental advantage over Tadej Pogacar after Milano-Sanremo

Milano-Sanremo 2025 more than lived up to the hype as Mathieu van der Poel, Tadej Pogacar and Filippo Ganna treated the viewing audience to an absolute cycling spectacle in Italy on Saturday afternoon. In the end, it was Van der Poel who emerged victorious and according to Belgian cycling expert Jose De Cauwer, the Alpecin-Deceuninck leader may have landed a mental blow to Pogacar.

The clearest moment of defiance from Van der Poel against Pogacar came at the top of the Poggio. After having been glued to the world champion's back wheel for every attack and acceleration, Van der Poel himself then countered over the top of the climb. "At the top of the Poggio. After Mathieu's counterattack on Pogacar. That’s when you knew: the advantage was with Van der Poel, he had everything under control. That was a mental blow for Pogacar," notes Sporza's Karl Vannieuwkerke in his and De Cauwer's post-race analysis. 

"It’s fantastic, but you have to dare to make your move at that moment. It’s typical Van der Poel," adds De Cauwer in agreement, noting how such a move may have a lasting effect felt deeper into the Spring, when Van der Poel and Pogacar next renew their rivalry. "This will definitely carry over to the Tour of Flanders."

"But it’s not a disaster, you know. It’s not like Van der Poel dropped him on the Poggio. Though, I do feel that from now on, Van der Poel will always go to the line with Pogacar. He’ll beat him," Vannieuwkerke adds. "Because Pogacar beating Van der Poel in a sprint in the E3 or the Tour of Flanders? That’s not going to happen. He’s going to have to drop him. That much is clear."

One of the other hopefuls in Flanders is likely to be De Cauwer and Vannieuwkerke's compatriot Wout van Aert. On the evidence of Milano-Sanremo 2025 though, the Sporza experts admit things don't look good for the Team Visma | Lease a Bike star.

"I think some serious work will need to be done on a mountain in Tenerife. Wout van Aert is on notice: he’ll have to be better than what we’ve seen from him last year," notes Vannieuwkerke. "Also, keep an eye on the team around Van der Poel. Kaden Groves could become very important, and they also have Jasper Philipsen and Gianni Vermeersch. With a much smaller budget, they’ll be able to compete with UAE this spring."