Brilliant battle between Pogačar, van der Poel and Ganna at Milan-San Remo
A Monument for the ages
It was a scintilating scrap between Tadej Pogačar, Mathieu van der Poel and Filippo Ganna in Saturday’s 116th Milan-San Remo, with the Dutchman earning his second La Primavera. The road world champion threw everything at the cyclocross world champion and van der Poel hung tough to take the sprint on the Via Roma.
The Course
The first half of the 288 km traveled south from Pavia to the first climb of the day, sharp little Passo Turchino. After a 12 km descent to Genoa, the race headed southwest along the Ligurian coast, finally reaching the three Capi at the 234 km point. Kilometre 260.5 was where 6-km Cipressa made a selection. The famed Poggio crested with 5.5 km to the line. A harrowing descent past the greenhouses led to the finish line on Via Roma.
Nickolas Zukowsky of Tom Pidcock’s Q36.5 team and Pier-André Côté were the Canadian entrants.
It was wet in Pavia when they got underway and only got worse. Dress appropriately: arm warmers, long-finger gloves, rain jackets, gilets, etc.
Milan-Sanremo starts. Damp in Pavia and Pogačar wisely in black shorts
After multiple attacks in the opening kilometres, a octet of fugitives, mostly Italian and ProTeam chaps, bounced away. Its lead tickled five minutes. At the bottom of the Passo Turchino’s descent, the gap was 2:25. The weather on the Ligurian coast was an improvement, and the gear came off. The race was helped along by a tailwind. Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Swiss Silvan Dillier yanked along the peloton for 65 km.
By the first of Tre Capi, Capo Mele, the break’s lead was trimmed to 2:35. By the last of the Capi, the fugitives started jumping one another. Martin Marcellusi was the last escapee to be lassoed as soon as the Cipressa kicked up.
UAE-Emirates pulled along the bunch. Last year’s winner Jasper Philipsen, who crashed on Wednesday, lost contact. After his teammates stretched things out, Pogačar attacked with 2.9 km to go. Ganna, 2023 champion van der Poel and Romain Grégoire were able to go with him. Grégoire fell away.
With 22 km to race, the trio were 34 seconds ahead of the closest chasers. By the time they hit the Poggio, the gap was up to 45 seconds. The threesome was the podium. The Slovenian made a thrust and the Dutchman was able to answer. The Italian fought bravely and just before he latched back on, the world champion went again.
Van der Poel assumed the front. Once more Pogačar tried to shake the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider but could not. Van der Poel counterattacked but couldn’t drop his opponent. Ganna valiantly ground on and closed in on the descent. The Ineos rider re-formed the trio with 800 metres to go.
The world champion dropped way back and couldn’t respond when van der Poel attacked. Van der Poel could barely believe his victory. Ganna claimed the runner-up spot.
2025 Milan-San Remo
1) Mathieu van der Poel (The Netherlands/Alpecin-Deceuninck) 6:22:53
2) Filippo Ganna (Italy/Ineos) s.t.
3) Tadej Pogačar (Slovenian/UAE-Emirates) s.t.