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Here’s what Tadej Pogačar had to say after sprinting to third today…
“We had a plan and we stuck to it. But we missed a little bit – just like maybe 10% – on the Cipressa and after. So in the end, the team had to wait too long on the Poggio. So it was not too hard. 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.
“I think actually that today was one of the easiest races ever. We rode a really super easy tempo the first few hours. But anyway, it was a it’s like I said before the race, everything needs to be perfection. And there was not everything perfect. But yeah, we did really good and I think podium was the most we could do.”
Milan-San Remo: Jasper Philipsen snatches narrow victory in fastest edition
Matthews, Van der Poel narrowly out-paced by Belgian
Today reportedly a 46.133kph average speed, which would beat the 1990 edition – 45.806kph – for the quickest Milan-San Remo ever.
Stuyven and Pedersen launched the sprint just as Pidcock was brought back within sight of the line.
However, the Lidl-Trek sprinter was quickly overpowered on the other side of the road by Matthews and Philipsen.
A look at that photo finish!
It looked like Matthews might’ve had that. He was so close…
Philipsen just ahead of Matthews at the line. Pogačar came through for third place.
Finish
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) wins Milan-San Remo
Three fastmen sprint it out to the finish line!
Pedersen hits the front but so do Matthews and Philipsen!
Stuyven leads out Pedersen!
He has a gap!
Can he pull this off?
Pidcock hits the front!
Sobrero and Pidcock chased by Van der Poel.
1km to go
An Italian leads the way…
Pidcock chases solo.
Sobrero counters!
1.5km to go
Back together now.
They’re making it back to Mohorič.
Mohorič has a few seconds on the flat.
2km to go
Van der Poel leads the chase.
Mohorič makes an attack at the bottom!
2.5km to go
A regrouping at the bottom.
Pogačar has led all the way down the descent.
Only a small gap behind.
4km to go
Pogačar, Van der Poel, Pidcock now leading.
Pogačar, Van der Poel, Pidcock, Mohorič, Ganna, Pedersen, Stuyven, Bettiol, Sobrero…
He leads the chase across.
Pidcock chasing now.
Ganna leads the chase.
Pogačar and Van der Poel have a few seconds.
Over the top and Pogačar leads the way!
5.5km to go
Van der Poel leads the chase.
200 metres from the top.
He goes again!
Pogačar couldn’t get away.
More come across.
Pedersen, Matthews, Pidcock…
Then a gap to Pedersen.
Bettiol and Ganna follow Van der Poel behind Pogačar.
Pogačar goes 6.5km from the line!
Still Wellens pushes.
1.2km to the top!
No big splits yet.
It’s all lined out behind him.
7km to go
Wellens really flying here.
Wellens, Pogačar, Van der Poel, Bettiol, Ganna at the front.
A huge pace at this point.
Now Tim Wellens takes over.
8km to go
All the big names right up there close to the front.
Ineos and UAE up there.
Ineos Grenadiers also up there as riders begin to drop.
Tudor hit the front as the Poggio begins.
10km to go
Here we go. The final test!
Here’s the Poggio. 500 metres to go!
Lidl-Trek lead the way as Bais is caught.
11km to go
Bais still 7-8 seconds up.
A larger group coming back to the lead peloton now.
Just over 2km to go until the start of the Poggio now.
The descent off the Cipressa.
Pogačar, Van der Poel, Matthews, Pidcock, Ganna, Kooij, Pedersen, Stuyven, Cosnefroy, Girmay, Bettiol, Alaphilippe all up there in the peloton.
One last look at the breakaway while the group was still all together before the Cipressa.
A spell of calm now before it all kicks off again.
Still only around 30-40 in the peloton.
16km to go
Bais has 10 seconds.
Breakaway over, then, though Bais tries to keep it going with another push.
He ran wide and collided with a barrier on the outside of a corner and one of the Polti men couldn’t avoid the crash.
Samitier crashes on the descent!
Down the other side of the hill now and it’s a select group leading the way just seconds down on the breakaway.
Around 9:35 up the Cipressa for the peloton.
22km to go
The remains of the break just 12 seconds up now.
Wellens pushes on now.
Maybe 40 men left in the lead peloton.
Wellens takes over but the pace has slowed.
Del Toro is done and drops away, 2km from the top.
Jonathan Milan among those off the back, though he has already done some work for Mads Pedersen.
Six left up front – Samitier plus the men from Bardiani and Polti.
24km to go
Splits in the peloton further back!
Pedersen, Stuyven, Ganna, Bettiol, Van der Poel, Pidcock lined out behind the UAE men.
Del Toro pushing a very high pace. 25 seconds to the break.
Up in the break things are falling apart as the Bardiani men lead it.
Del Toro and Wellens also coming up.
Alessandro Covi on the front now to work for Pogačar.
Tsarenko drops from the break.
Now a few men are moving up.
EF and Ineos lead the peloton up. No sign of Pogačar’s UAE squad.
27km to go
43 seconds for the break as they begin the Cipressa.
Israel-Premier Tech, Ineos Grenadiers, and Lidl-Trek among the squads up front.
One final story from the day – or rather last night – before things really kick off…
2022 winner Matej Mohorič eschews dropper post to take advantage of Merida aero frame
4km to the start of the hill. Here’s a look at it. What will go down on the way up?
32km to go
1:20 for the breakaway.
The Cipressa is coming…
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The Slovenian could attack with others on the Cipressa or alone on the Poggio
Still nine left in the break following Baldaccini’s departure from the move.
The break are over the top of the climb with 1:30 in hand and now we head to the Cipressa.
Former race winner Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X Mobility) is also dropped.
That’s quite surprising.
Christophe Laporte is dropped! The first major casualty of the day.
UAE Team Emirates continue to push.
And now another crash in the peloton which sees Tim van Dijke and Cedric Beullens go down.
Baldaccini is dropped from the break.
40km to go
Meanwhile, the break are on the Capo Berta now.
Tom Paquot (Intermarché-Wanty) has hit the deck in the peloton.
UAE Team Emirates at the front on the Mele.
45km to go
The gap to the break still holding at 1:30. It’s a high pace but they’re not flying just yet.
UAE, Alpecin, Groupama all at the front on the Cervo.
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The pace and tension certainly much higher than it was.
1:30 and counting for the break now as they head down the other side and onto the Cervo.
EF and Alpecin also up there.
UAE Team Emirates move to the front of the peloton on the way up.
Just over five hours of racing done so far.
The break has started the Capo Mele.
56km to go
Seconds dropping off the break’s lead as it comes down to 2:10.
Ineos Grenadiers, Bora-Hansgrohe, Jayco-AlUla, and Lotto-Dstny among the teams who have moved up in the peloton.
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63km to go
2:35 is the gap now.
One of those famous shots of the riders racing along the coast – the Capo Noli – south towards San Remo.
Under 20km to the first of the three Capi climbs…
75km to go
2:45 is the latest time gap.
It’s still the same 10 men out in the break – packed with riders from Polti, Bardiani, and Corratec.
The easiest classic to finish is the hardest to win
Plenty of blurry shots on Getty today. The riders have been speeding along and there hasn’t been much action to photograph so far.
97km to go
Bais is back in the breakaway group, 2:10 up on the peloton.
Davide Bais stops from the break with a puncture but he’s back up and running now.
Italy hopes for a Milan-San Remo miracle from Ganna, Milan or Bettiol
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The riders at the head of the peloton.
110km to go
2:30 for the breakaway.
We’re coming closer to the 100km to go marker now.
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118km to go
2:30 for the break.
The race is a few minutes ahead of the quickest schedule so far. Around two hours and 40 minutes left to run, then.
It’s still Alpecin and Lidl working on the front. Cofidis are lined up behind them.
Around three hours left to run today…
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133km to go
1:45 for the break now.
The riders heading into Genoa now as they hit the coast.
The riders pass through the town of Novi Ligure a little earlier on.
144km to go
Passing the halfway point and Patrick Bevin (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) is the first abandon of the race.
No major incident over the Turchino.
Onto the Tuchino now and the break leads by 1:55.
Lunch time for the riders as they pass through the feed zone.
153km to go
2:05 for the break as the riders come towards the start of the Turchino proper.
The riders have been climbing for some time as they head towards the Ligurian coast, though it has all been on very shallow gradients.
The Passo del Turchino is also coming up shortly.
We’re edging towards the mid-point of the race at 144km to go.
162km to go
And it’s still the same mix of teams working at the head of the peloton.
It’s still just over two minutes for the breakaway – 2:15 now.
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172km to go
2:50 for the move now. The gap hasn’t grown past three minutes so far.
The breakaway riders out on the road.
The pair hit the deck but are quickly getting back up and running.
180km to go
Carlos Canal (Movistar) and Yuhi Todome (EF Education-EasyPost) crash in the peloton.
And now the gap dips under two minutes once again.
190km to go
2:20 now for the break and no change in the overall race situation.
Tadej Pogačar keeps his Milan-San Remo race strategy under wraps
‘You need to have the best legs on the final two climbs’
200km to go
2:50 for the break at the moment.
The gap is slowly getting bigger as the kilometres pass by.
212km to go
We’re around a quarter of the way into the race.
The breakaway group has 2:30 now.
A look at the head of the peloton.
222km to go
The gap to the break fluctuates between 1:30 and two minutes.
A 45kph average speed so far today after around 80 minutes of racing.
Alpecin and Lidl still leading the way at the head of the peloton.
231km to go
1:40 for the breakaway now.
236km to go
Another stoppage for Van der Poel now and it looks like another bike swap.
Van der Poel stops to get a bike change.
The break of the day.
244km to go
Germani is back in the peloton now.
The peloton seems to be slowing down a little now. The gap is back out to just over two minutes.
249km to go
Germani is dropping back from the breakaway already.
The pair discuss one another’s hairstyles as they ride along.
It’s calm and relaxed at the rear of the peloton as the world champion passes Michael Matthews on his way back to the group.
Van der Poel drops back to his team car for a chat with his directeur sportif.
It looks like the break’s advantage will be held at around 1:30 for now.
A fast start to the race today.
259km to go
Those teams bringing the break’s advantage down to 1:35.
Lidl-Trek, Alpecin-Deceuninck, and Intermarché-Wanty at the head of the peloton now.
It’s the sixth year in the row that Tonelli has made it into the break here at Milan-San Remo. Maestri has been out there three times before, too – in 2017, 2018, and 2023. Zoccarato was in last year’s breakaway as well.
Here’s the makeup of the breakaway…
Davide Bais, Mirco Maestri, Andrea Pietrobon (Polti-Kometa), Alessandro Tonelli, Samuele Zoccarato (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè), Valerio Conti, Davide Baldaccini, Kyrylo Tsarenko (Corratec-Vini Fantini), Lorenzo Germani (Groupama-FDJ), Romain Combaud (DSM-Firmenich PostNL), Sergio Samitier (Movistar)
265km to go
2:20 for the move.
The peloton has let the move go up the road.
Multiple riders from Corratec, Polti, Bardiani in there…
It looks like this might be the break of the day!
A group of around 10 riders have a small gap now.
271km to go
The battle to get away continues.
No moves yet as riders from Bardiani, Polti, Corratec still lead at the front of the peloton.
280km to go
Still riders battle to make the break as the race along boosted by an early tailwind.
While the attacks fly at the front, riders including Jasper Philipsen and Tadej Pogačar hang around at the rear of the peloton.
It’s lined out at the rear of the peloton under the high pace.
Attacks fly straight away with Eolo, Corratec, Bardiani unsurprisingly among the teams at the front.
288km to go
The flag drops and here we go!
Coming closer to the end of the short neutral zone now and the flag will soon drop to commence the start of the race proper.
Here we go. The neutral start is given.
Reigning champion and world champion Mathieu van der Poel makes his season debut in white shorts.
The riders now just waiting for the start to be given in Pavia.
Sign-on is complete and we’re almost underway.
Today’s race map…
175 riders from 25 teams are set to roll out and take on the 288km challenge.
There’ll be a 5.7km neutral zone to start the day.
We’re edging closer to the start of the race in Pavia now.
Cyclingnews’ Stephen Farrand is at the race start, and will be sharing the latest news from the build-up
The sun is out in Pavia and we’re expecting spring weather all day. That should make it a fast and aggressive race.
Buongiorno from Pavia. Cyclingnews in on the ground at the start to bring you all the pre-race information and then full race coverage.
Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews‘ live coverage of Milan-San Remo
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