Visma's Campenaerts on Milano - Sanremo's 'bizarre situation' with Pogacar and van der Poel; Wout Van Aert's recovery

Victor Campenaerts was a last-minute entry at Milano-Sanremo, replacing the ill Matthew Brennan on Team Visma | Lease a Bike's lineup. This was ultimately a decision that did seem to bring the team benefit as Campenaerts' support was key in bringing Wout Van Aert back to the peloton after his crash, which then resulted in the team getting someone on the podium.

The Belgian was the team's main card to play in the Italian monument, but after he and Matteo Jorgenson crashed together with Tadej Pogacar right before the Cipressa, the in-form Campenaerts believed he could all of a sudden be a card to play for a result on the day.

"That absolutely crosses your mind. I am sitting there with Christophe [Laporte], and he is truly a finisher, a rider who could actually win Milano-Sanremo himself," Campenaerts said on NOS' Wielerpodcast. But Visma, like several other teams, were unsure of what to do with the unexpected race situation on the climb with Pogacar and Van Aert behind; and Mathieu van der Poel isolated after he himself crashed.

"It is, of course, a bizarre situation when all the top favorites drop out. You also feel that it is not done to say at that point: we are going to take the initiative and make sure those riders don't come back". But with Van Aert behind there was no logic in pushing the pace. Eventually the main favourites for the day returned to the head of the peloton.

"That wasn't the case for Mathieu and Tadej. Those guys came back then, and you know right away, 'oh dear, the same thing awaits us as if there hadn't been a crash'." And so it did, with Campenaerts and Laporte then unable to follow the attack.

"Christophe and I didn't wait at the foot [of Cipressa]. First follow and see what happens. When we heard that Matteo and Wout were about ten seconds behind after the descent, I immediately waited for their group and rode at the front," the rouleur explained. His support was key in bringing Van Aert back to contention.

Van Aert then attacked after the end of the descent and soloed away from the peloton to take third place on the day, joining Tadej Pogacar and Tom Pidcock on the podium.

"I have to say that this was the first race this year that I rode with Wout, coincidentally. It is a different Wout than the one I saw in races last year," he adds. "He rode fantastically back then too, with the Strade stage in the Giro and that stage over Montmartre".