Mathieu van der Poel: We can be really proud that we won San Remo twice with the team

Saturday's Milan-San Remo will surely leave Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin Deceuninck) with a mix of disappointment and pride. After over six hours of racing, van der Poel went from being one of the race favourites to a lead-out man, eventually helping teammate Jasper Philipsen edge to victory ahead of Michael Matthews (Jayco AlUla).

At the finish line, van der Poel told reporters that marking Tadej Pogačar's (UAE Team Emirates) attacks over the final climbs had left him with nothing in the legs for the finish.

"On the Poggio, I was where I had to be, and in the end, Tadej had a small gap so I had to react one more time. That was painful. I hoped to go with him to the finish line of course, but the legs weren’t fresh anymore."

Read more: Tadej Pogačar: Milan-San Remo wasn't hard enough

When van der Poel was united with teammate Philipsen on the descent of the Poggio, they made a quick change of plan, as van der Poel told the media.

"He told me that he still had good legs, so I knew what to do. I could have sprinted myself but we’re honest with each other, and if he says he has good legs then I believe it, and he proved it."

Van der Poel's 10th place finish will be a disappointment for the Dutch rider, who was evidently racing for victory as he tracked Pogačar's every move over the Poggio. Last year, van der Poel took a historic win at Milan-San Remo, following in the footsteps of his grandfather who won the race 62 years prior. This year, the race gave him a chance to practice his leadout for Philipsen — a pairing that became a familiar sight at the 2023 Tour de France.

Despite his personal disappointment, he told reporters he was glad that the title was kept within the Alpecin Deceuninck ranks, concluding:

"I think we can be really really proud that we won San Remo twice with the team."

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