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The first Monument of the season is always eagerly anticipated, not least for the opportunity to gamify the first 250 kilometres of the interminable old race, whether it’s a bingo card or sharing the most simple and most useful website in the known universe – if you’ve not yet been introduced to the vital ‘Is Milan-San Remo exciting yet?‘ page, you’re in for a treat.
This year came with the inevitable pre-race stirrings, promises of shake-ups and tearing up the script, heightened by the dearth of such storylines for so long and momentous an event. And though attempts were made to break the code, Milan-San Remo itself kept a firm grip on the narrative and all its punctuation points. The attacks were all made right where they’re nearly always made, and the right names (most of them) were right where they needed to be to bring the race to life right on cue. Perhaps it’s an illusion after so many long hours of “easy” riding along the Italian coast, but those fairly formulaic final 15 kilometres are always a thrill to watch, and this year more than lived up to its billing.
Here’s what happened at the longest race of the season through the lens of Kristof Ramon.
Italian national champion Simone Velasco on his way to the team presentation in Pavia the night before the race.Pavia was packed to the gunnels with fans eager to see their favourite riders before race day.Tadej Pogačar – and his frosted tips – was in high demand.While Michael Valgren was content to stand among the milling crowds.Stefan Küng and Laurence Pithie were both listed among the outside contenders on the day, though both were at a slight disadvantage, Küng having crashed hard at the mid-week GP Denain, and Pithie racing his debut Monument, albeit a few months into a phenomenal season for the 21-year-old Kiwi – he would eventually finish 15th in the second group to arrive in San Remo, which is a pretty bloody great result.The world champion arrived to defend his Milan-San Remo title dressed head to toe in pearly-white lycra to further show off his rainbow bands.Christophe Laporte was one of Visma-Lease a Bike’s protected riders, but this as about as happy as the European champion looked all day before being distanced about 10 km from the Cipressa. He was the only rider on his team not to finish.A couple of weeks after winning Strade Bianche with a phenomenal solo move having warned that he would do so, pre-race favourite Pogačar was at his old tricks further north, telling media what he hoped to do beforehand. Would it work?Tom Pidcock and Luke Plapp looked serious at the start, both tipped to perform at the Italian classic.What’s Toms doing here? Captions on a postcard …Michael Matthews loves this race – he’s finished in the top-7 five times and landed on the podium twice – but having just got over a sickness that ruled him out of Paris-Nice, his build-up could have been better.Pogačar always has time for the fans.The race rolled out of Pavia (about 40 km south of Milan) to begin its 288-kilometre trek to San Remo.The first scene played out as you’d expect, a moderately sized breakaway forming within 20 kilometres and almost exclusively made up of Italian ProTeam riders.The breakaway included Davide Baldaccini, Valerio Conti and Kyrylo Tsarenko (Corratec-Vini Fantini), Sergio Samitier (Movistar), Romain Combaud (DSM-Firmenich PostNL), Davide Bais, Mirco Maestri and Andrea Pietroban (Polti-Kometa), Alessandro Tonelli and Samuele Zoccarato (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè).Pro-turned-moto correspondent Jens Voigt is still in competition for most enthusiastic man in cycling despite retiring in 2014.The peloton kept the breakaway on a short leash that never quite reached three minutes – by ‘peloton’ I mean the combined efforts of Lidl-Trek’s Jacopo Mosca (a late call-up for the unwell Tim Declercq) and Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Silvan Dillier.What goes through a person’s mind while towing a large group of cyclists for 230 kilometres?Oh, so quiet. Oh, so still.It’s hard to beat Italy in spring.Every year, this same nun stands at the doors of her convent to take photos and wave cheerily at the passing peloton. To those in the know, she’s as much a fixture of Milan-San Remo as the Tre Capi.Iconic – a word I use sparingly.Seaside *ahem* break, anyone?Lidl-Trek and Alpecin-Deceuninck still in control …The status quo changed as the peloton hit the Tre Capi, the trio of small climbs that begin 52 km from the finish, with UAE Team Emirates amassing on the front of the bunch to lift the pace and (hopefully) put the hurt on Pogačar’s rivals.At the foot of the Cipressa, though, it was Ineos Grenadiers who led the way with Pogačar’s men scattered right when they were expected to be tightening the screw.That said, UAE Team Emirates regained control a short way up the climb and Isaac Del Toro did an almighty pull in his debut Monument. It looked like the team was running out of matches, though.The breakaway still held a half-minute lead on the descent of the Cipressa.Positioning was important on the snaking road, but with the favourites group still intact, all thoughts were now turning to the Poggio.Jasper Philipsen had been fairly invisible on the way up, but he was very much still in the fight on the descent.The breakaway’s days were numbered as the race neared the final 10 km.Working for Mads Pedersen, 2021-winner Jasper Stuyven took over the pace-setting at the foot of the Poggio, while Pogačar, who was caught out of position and without company once again, came charging up the outside to prepare the next step of the plan.Tim Wellens also reappeared on the lower slopes of the climb, and the on-form Belgian was put to work, Van der Poel one of the many keeping a close eye on the sneaky Slovenian on Wellens’s wheel.There was a lot of communication between the UAE Team Emirates pair. The attack was coming …… there he goes!However, Van der Poel was glued to Pogačar’s wheel, Alberto Bettiol and 2023 runner-up Filippo Ganna not far from his own.Hmm. So, that didn’t work. Pogačar had company, and not the kind he was willing to accept without a fight – but he was running out of climb to do what he does best.Pogačar attacked again a few-hundred metres from the top of the iconic climb, but his lead over Van der Poel – who’d made only the tiniest hesitation before reacting – was but a few bike lengths.Van der Poel tagged Pogačar as he rounded the corner that marked the start of the descent, with the Ganna-led chase group breathing down their necks.Also in the chase group was Tom Pidcock, quite possible the best descender in the peloton, not to mention Van der Poel’s fast-finishing teammate Philipsen who had already laid his cards on the table: “I begged Mathieu not to work with Pogačar because I had great legs.” The leading duo was about to get company.With 12 riders likely to contest the win, a large pack was just a little over 30 seconds behind, including British national champion Fred Wright and debutant Olav Kooij. The sprinter would be Visma-Lease a Bike’s top finisher in 14th.2022 champion Matej Mohorič – minus dropper seatpost – attacked the lead group just after joining Pogačar and Van der Poel at the head of the race.Bora-Hansgrohe’s Matteo Sobrero – one of two Italians in the lead group alongside Bettiol – was the next to attack after Van der Poel, now in domestique mode, closed down Mohorič’s own attempt to break free. You can just about see Pidcock launching out of the wheels in pursuit of the Bora-Hansgrohe rider who he’d catch and pass inside the last kilometre.But Van der Poel and Jasper Stuyven were not having it, both of them working for a teammate to bring it down to a sprint and catching Pidcock a couple hundred metres from the line (sadly no pictures of Pidcock in full flight).Matthews scorched up the left side of the road, but the door was open for Philipsen …… and the sprinter just pipped ‘Bling’ with a bike throw on the line, the photo finish showing just a couple of inches between them. Pogačar was the best of the rest in third, his first podium at Milan-San Remo after doing everything he could to win.Huge for Philipsen (and Canyon), who can finally add a Monument to his lengthy palmarès.One of the most compelling and encouraging rides of the day was actually one of the least visible, but seeing Julian Alaphilippe firmly in the top 10 after a few difficult seasons and doubts over his future was a sight for sore eyes.Nine-time Milan-San Remo finisher Luke Rowe was greeted by his young son who is almost old enough to meet the requirements of his dad’s ever-younger team. He later described the race in an Instagram post: “Easiest race to finish, hardest to win!”Pogačar and Philipsen were teammates for two years before the Belgian moved to his current team, but they’ve remained good friends.In fact, some might call it a bromance.Matthews – another close friend of Pogi’s who he regularly trains with – was gracious in defeat while the world celebrated a return to form for the charismatic Australian.Chapeau, Jasper!
