The Belgian Jasper Philipsen became, on Saturday March 16, the first sprinter in eight years to win Milan-Sanremo under the noses of Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar who consoled himself with a first podium in the Primavera.
In a small group sprint, the Alpecin rider beat the Australian Michael Matthews and Pogacar to succeed his teammate Van der Poel, 10th this year, on the list of winners of one of the five most prestigious classics on the calendar.
This is the first victory in a Monument for the Belgian who flew over the flat stages in the last Tour de France.
Since Arnaud Démare in 2016, no pure sprinter has won in the Primavera dominated by punching attackers in recent years.
But Philipsen is not only the best sprinter in the world for two years, he is also one of the only ones in his caste to follow so well in the moguls, as was the case in the Poggio on Saturday.
Pogacar attacked twice on this legendary springboard, the summit of which is located 5.5 km from the goal.
But the Slovenian did not manage to beat the other favorites, such as Van der Poel, Mads Pedersen or Julian Alaphilippe, finishing 9th on the line.
Philipsen also managed to hang on and it was logical that he raised his arms via Roma to sign the 23rd Belgian victory in the Primavera.
With AFP
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