SAN REMO, Italy — Belgian cyclist Jasper Philipsen sprinted to win the fastest-ever Milan-Sanremo cycling race and claim his first victory in a “monument” race.
The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider edged out Michael Matthews and two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar. Philipsen screamed in joy after crossing the line and beamed broadly as he was embraced by his rivals.
The average speed was measured at 46.11 kph, breaking the record set by Gianni Bugno 34 years ago when he averaged 45.8 kph.
“It’s an incredible feeling to win Milan-Sanremo. It makes me really proud and happy, especially after the lead out I got from Mathieu van der Poel,” Philipsen said in a post-race interview.
“It was a fast race all day but I was feeling very good all the time. I believed in myself but everything had to go to perfection. I managed to come back,” Philipsen added according to Reuters.
Pogacar had launched an attack with 5.8 km to go, with Van der Poel chasing him on the final descent from the summit of the Poggio before Bahrain Victorious’s Matej Mohoric attempted an attack of his own.
However, the final kilometre saw Bora-Hansgrohe’s Matteo Sobrero and Ineos Grenadiers’ Thomas Pidcock attempt to lead.
But Belgian Philipsen squeezed between Jayco-AlUla’s Michael Matthews and the barrier to take the win while Pogacar was third for UAE Team Emirates.
The photo finish captured Philipsen’s front tyre just centimetres in front of Matthews’s bike.
“I wasn’t used to a sprint after 300km and I could feel the difference,” added Philipsen, whose previous best finish at a Monument was second at Paris-Roubaix last year.
“I didn’t expect Michael Matthews to be that good but I’m glad I managed to beat him.”
Pogacar, who has yet to win the Milan-Sanremo Classic, tried to attack twice in the final stages but had to settle for third.
“We had a plan and we stuck to it. But we missed a little bit, maybe 10 per cent,” the Slovenian said.
“I tried two times to attack; I had incredible legs but this year was not hard enough for it to be a climber’s race. I think I did everything I could to be third place. In this situation I couldn’t have done much better but it was close.”
Milan-Sanremo is the longest Monument race. The other Monument races are the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Giro di Lombardia.
“A monument is something you dream of. Milan-San Remo is maybe one of the only monuments I can win and I´m really proud,” Philipsen said according to AP.
“I had a feeling that it could be my day, I had really good legs from the start already and I was feeling good. I had the belief in it but of course everything needs to fall in place.”
The 26-year-old Philipsen won four stages in last year´s Tour de France to take his tally to six in the French Grand Tour. He has also won three stages in the Spanish Vuelta.
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