Wout van Aert "really did something crazy" at Tirreno-Adriatico, says Julian Alaphilippe

The spring classics are close. There are several riders showing a strong level whilst others are still working on their form. Julian Alaphilippe has seen first hand the competition at Tirreno-Adriatico and he was impressed with the display of power from Wout van Aert.

"I was impressed by their dominance and Roglic was incredible, but he won't be there next Saturday. But who impressed me the most last Saturday is Wout van Aert. He really did something crazy, he rode incredibly strong," Alaphilippe said in an interview with Sporza. "He is in excellent form and he is definitely the big favorite for all the races to come."

It was the performance on stage 6 that got the attention of the former World Champion, who saw on the steep walls how van Aert rode in support of Primoz Roglic. After the work Alaphilippe also saw van Aert finish ahead of him, as the puncheurs struggled on the day and gave way to the climbers. Many of the classics specialists were present in the race and you can improve your odds against specialists on novibet.ie, and they will also be present at Milano-Sanremo. 

Alaphilippe is a former winner of the Italian monument and he will be there this weekend. Alaphilippe is a terrific descender, and with the rise of figures such as Matej Mohoric and Tom Pidcock as fellow descending experts, he's questioned if another solo attack in that form could decide the race. "That can happen, but on the other hand: it's every man for himself on the Poggio. I wasn't there last year, I saw the race on TV. There are a lot of crazy people in the peloton, I'm crazy sometimes too," he replied.

"Sometimes it goes like this and you have to take risks, but not too much. I don't think about it too much. Normally it's a descent where everyone is 'à bloc'. Matej did the descent at the limit, you can't go much faster than him but I wasn't there and was watching on TV. We'll see how it goes this year and I hope to be at the front of this edition," he concluded.