Featured image is credited to Tim de Waele via 2022 Getty Images
Going into the 113th Milano-Sanremo all eyes were on one Slovenian who looks unstoppable. Tadej Pogačar as a two-times Tour de France champion, multiple Vuelta stage winner, two-times Monument winner at Lombardy and Liège–Bastogne–Liège plus Strade Bianche not so long ago – who on earth could beat such a talent?
A Slovenian rider did win La Classicissima but it wasn’t the one cycling fans all expected.
Here are my five talking points from the first Monument of the season.
Monumental destiny for Mohorič
If Jasper Stuyven’s daring attack right at the foot of the Poggio last year was special then the way Matej Mohorič secured his first-ever Monument victory was even better.
Thinking back to the great Milan-Sanremo victories of yesteryear, Sean Kelly thirty years ago and Mark Cavendish in 2009, a descent off the Poggio has to be masterclass and spot-on for any rider capable enough to win this famous race. A sprinter can descend with no problems but someone willing to take risks on corners with stone walls and low barriers – it’s quite scary if you are willing to put yourself on the line.
Vincenzo Nibali did a job on the whole peloton in 2018 and now Mohorič, who is known for how well he can go downhill, succeeded by two seconds over the chasing pack.
I couldn’t watch the descent at times because of how scary it was to watch. A bunny-hop after nearly bouncing off a wall, Mohorič’s chain nearly slipping off on the flat, how he managed to stay up and not fall is beyond me.
Milan-Sanremo is always built up as a Monument where either a sprinter, a puncheur or maybe an elite Grand Tour climber can try their hand, yet what Matej Mohorič is as an entity can be described as something out of this world.
A rider who can turn a big gear, power on the flat and climb short ascents with an attacking style, the Slovenian is a powerhouse and his victory (as we have found out post-race) was planned. Targeting the win since winter and using a mountain bike drop saddle – it was carefully thought out.
Because the super tuck position (where riders drop their pelvises onto their top tubes to reduce aerodynamic drag and go even faster) is banned by the UCI, Mohorič has innovated something very different and in hindsight can be seen as quite a bold thing to do.
One of the greatest descents to win Milan-Sanremo? A quartet in fellow Slovenian Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Søren Kragh Andersen (DSM) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) alongside him at the top of the Poggio, just couldn’t organise a chase on the downhill and going into the Via Roma.
An astonishing victory and well deserved. Cycling fans have known over the years that Matej Mohorič was always destined for a Monument. Stage wins at all three Grand Tours before, this just increases the level of prestige for him and his Bahrain-Victorious team.
Mathieu van der Poel is Mathieu van der Poel
If you manage to make the podium at any Monument let alone Milan-Sanremo, you’ve clearly done very well to achieve either second or third. But in the context of what this Milan-Sanremo gave us pre-race, what is more remarkable is Mathieu van der Poel, the great Dutch talent that he is, finishing third behind Mohorič.
Alpecin-Fenix decided to give van der Poel a chance to start the race and going into it, I had no expectations and I don’t think any cycling fan did either! It is fact that Mathieu van der Poel can try anything to create exciting moments but for this Milan-Sanremo whether he would or not was the big talking point.
Expect the unexpected is cliché but that’s the only way to describe this amazing bike rider.
Could he have won overall? As we look at the results, third does now look disappointing, but the evidence was clear – Mathieu van der Poel is back!
He survived the UAE onslaught on the Cipressa, he closed the gap to the four Pogačar attacks on the Poggio and came to the summit as part of the leading group.
A best career finish at Milan-Sanremo for van der Poel, who now looks forward to a cobbled campaign where he’ll be a major factor to potentially win a second Tour of Flanders
And a word to Anthony Turgis for TotalEnergies who came second. The Frenchman has finished in the top ten at the Flanders before and has come close to taking other Spring Classics including Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne and Dwars door Vlaanderen.
It’s clear that Turgis, at 27-years-of-age, is improving race by race. The only downside for him is his team. With a stronger set of riders alongside Anthony Turgis, maybe his fortunes might be stronger.
Michael Matthews, Wout Van Aert and others left disappointed
Whenever I write a five talking points piece on cycling it is paramount to talk about the others who’ve missed the podium but did achieve a top ten. Why? Because it’s important to talk about what happens next. What are the future targets for riders to look at?
Michael Matthews (Team BikeExchange-Jayco), Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo), Søren Kragh Andersen (Team DSM), Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Jan Tratnik (Bahrain-Victorious) and Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ) rounded off the podium.
Read on for my talking point on Pogačar and the sprinters, but let’s focus on Wout Van Aert.
Credit must go to Jumbo-Visma for trying their hardest to keep in touch with UAE’s grand plan to make life difficult on the Cipressa and launch Tadej Pogačar on the Poggio. Wout Van Aert did have Primož Roglič and Christophe Laporte to help him (what a signing Laporte is by the way) but in the end it came to nothing.
A chase where nothing happened and in the end the Belgian found himself closing the gap to Pogačar’s attacks on the Poggio. Roglič did try to assist by countering one of Pogačar’s moves but apart from that there was nothing left for him to give.
Wout Van Aert was left isolated despite his climbing and sprinting ability. The race lacked a missing piece to the jigsaw, just one extra explosive puncheur who could take the race to Pogačar and maybe help a Van Aert or a van der Poel. That man could have been Julian Alaphilippe, but we’ll never know.
Exhaustion for Van Aert after Paris-Nice? I don’t think so. In my view Jumbo-Visma tried to keep tabs on UAE but in the end a solo attacker won the day. Two editions of Milan-Sanremo since the Belgian won, it really isn’t a surprise to see solo attacks win La Primavera. Because he has a brilliant sprint finish, everyone else marked him out and tried their hand at well-thought attacks.
More is still to come from Wout Van Aert and Jumbo-Visma – the team is still in great shape.
Elsewhere, praise must go to Danish rider Søren Kragh Andersen who did try to make a move, the Team DSM man now has two top tens attached to his name. His fellow countryman Mads Pedersen, as a former world champion, should also be proud to make sixth on debut.
More frustration for Australian Michael Matthews. Third in 2015, seventh in 2018, third again in 2020 and sixth last year – just like fellow Australian Caleb Ewan, Matthews has come close but not close enough.
Fourth place in 2022, the wait goes on for another Australian winner since double Aussie delight in Simon Gerrans (2012) and Matthew Goss (2011).
Tadej Pogačar cannot win everything
Are cycling fans over-hyping this brilliant young talent?
Going into this Milan-Sanremo all eyes were on Tadej Pogačar for a good reason – the new Eddy Merckx? ‘Merckxian’ in how he’s become legendary already in winning two yellow jersey’s and two Monuments – winning some of the most prestigious races together, it’s legendary but for me way too soon to call him a new Merckx.
What excites me and so many is how we think the Slovenian can do anything and everything. Devastation was brought about by UAE Team Emirates on the Cipressa and fair play to them. The tactic to use domestiques and distance as many contenders as possible worked.
Little more than 30 riders were left post-Cipressa, probably the smallest select field at a Milan-Sanremo I can ever remember! Jan Polanc and the terrific facial expressions of Davide Formolo showed they emptied the tank all for Pogačar. In all fairness he did make it entertaining to watch.
But on the Poggio we saw him attack four times and it came to nothing. The gradients of the climb are however nowhere near difficult enough for Tadej Pogačar to distance other contenders. It might have been easier for Eddy Merckx to win Sanremo seven times but it was a different age. The chances of Pogačar winning all five Monuments at least once are remote.
I said in my preview that this race was not suited to the young talent of Tadej Pogačar. World-beating form is a given after a terrific victory at both the UAE Tour and Strade Bianche so far, but Sanremo is markedly a very different race.
One thing is clear – Tadej Pogačar cannot win every race despite how much you throw at him or how much hype and excitement I and cycling fans have for him. An over-estimation? Because of how talented he is it’s another cliché of expect the unexpected with this kid!
In my opinion I reckon that will be the last time Pogačar rides Milan-Sanremo to try and win it overall. It’s not suited to him and if I were Matteo Trentin or maybe Marc Hirschi, I’d want him as teammate to support me. If a chance to try and win it happens then for sure he will take it!
There is a Tour of Flanders to come where he might be suited better and it’s a perfect chance to take in some cobbles as Roubaix pavé is on the Tour de France route this year.
For now the preparation for a third successive yellow jersey continues…
Milan-Sanremo is not a “sprinters classic”
Even before UAE’s devastating work to distance as many sprinters and other genuine contenders on the Cipressa, the status of Milan-Sanremo as a “sprinters classic” was already fatally damaged.
On the Cipressa, the likes of Alexander Kristoff (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert-Materiaux), Fabio Jakobsen (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl), Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Fenix) Elia Viviani, Filippo Ganna, Tom Pidcock (all INEOS Grenadiers) and, due to a mechanical, Peter Sagan (TotalEnergies) were all dropped.
Quick Step were missing Julian Alaphilippe so the chances of Fabio Jakobsen, however heart-warming it would have been to see him win, were remote. If Mark Cavendish were given the opportunity I doubt he would have stood a chance either.
Milan-Sanremo is not a sprinters race any more. For six years in succession it hasn’t finished with a bunch sprint and for 2022 this was probably the most devastating for the fast men.
Some did try to keep in contact. They may not be pure sprinters but Mads Pedersen and Michael Matthews did hold out, both providing consistent results, but if we look at sprinters who are good at sprinting only Arnaud Démare made the top ten.
Frenchman Démare will probably be the last sprinter to ever win Milan-Sanremo from 2016. He did dig very deep to keep in contact but it was not enough. Young exciting prospect Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert-Materiaux) did finish 12th but others such as Giacomo Nizzolo, Nacer Bouhanni and Bryan Coquard were nowhere near.
A final point must be made about the INEOS Grenadiers who were visible before the Cipressa but disappeared afterwards. Disappointment for Tom Pidcock who had to abandon due to illness, Filippo Ganna finished 51st, Ethan Hayter in 56th and Elia Viviani way down in 116th.
The best-placed rider for INEOS was former Milan-Sanremo winner from 2017 Michał Kwiatkowski, 16th place at 11 seconds behind the winner.
No pure sprinter stood a chance and unless anything changes, Milan-Sanremo is unlikely to see a repeat of Mark Cavendish’s stunning win in 2009.
One Monument down, four to go. March is slowly winding down to turn into April. The road season is well into Spring now as the build-up to the Tour of Flanders hots up…
