With Wolfsegger Michael Gogl, one of his most important helpers was absent due to illness, but top cycling star Mathieu van der Poel was nevertheless able to enter the illustrious list of winners of the Milan-Sanremo classic, which covers almost 300 kilometers, for the first time.
The 28-year-old from the Alpecin team won after an attack on the final Poggio climb and a rapid descent to the finish 15 seconds ahead of Italian Filippo Ganna (Ineos) and Belgian Wout van Aert (Jumbo), who won in 2020. Top favorite Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE) came home empty-handed after a long lead on the final climb, like in the previous year.
Van der Poel’s grandfather, Raymond Poulidor, had won the race in 1961. Felix Großschartner (UAE/92nd place) and Lukas Pöstlberger (Jayco/122nd place) also finished the classic at the finish line after helping out.
Riccardo Zoidl was sixth on the last stage of the Rhodes Tour yesterday, while Wels teammate Daniel Federspiel had finished seventh the day before.
