How Jasper Philipsen won Milan-San Remo – GCN Racing News Show

In this week’s Racing News Show, Dan Lloyd casts an eye over the last week of racing, with action from Milan-San Remo, Trofeo Alfredo Binda, the GP Denain and Nokere Koerse as the Classics season gets into full swing.

The biggest news over the weekend was, of course, Milan-San Remo, with the mammoth Italian Classic representing the first Monument of the season, and offering a typically exciting finale, peppered with attacks and a photo finish to decide the winner.

Despite Tadej Pogačar dubbing the race “one of the easiest races ever”, it was a day packed full of action, some intriguing tactics and the highest average speed in Milan-San Remo’s history, culminating in Jasper Philipsen’s first Monument victory.

Read more: 5 conclusions from Milan-San Remo

To really understand what happened on the roads of the Ligurian coast and in the finale on the Via Roma, Dan Lloyd has taken a deep dive into the day’s racing. Why was the pace so high, and did Strava records fall on the Cipressa and Poggio? Who got the tactics wrong, and who got them right? Who does Philipsen have to thank for his victory in San Remo? Watch the video for an in-depth analysis of the race with Dan.

Elsewhere, Dan talks us through the other results from the weekend, including Elisa Balsamo’s win at the Trofeo Alfredo Binda, marking Lidl-Trek’s fourth victory in a row at the race, and a defeat for SD Worx-Protime – something teams will be hoping to do more as the Classics continue.

Away from Italy, the cobbles have already gotten underway in northern Europe with races like Nokere Koerse and the GP Denain, the latter of which – often dubbed a ‘mini Paris-Roubaix’ – offered up a gruelling, mud-soaked day of racing, and saw one of the most striking domino-effect crashes we’ve seen in a while.

Read more: Spring Classics 2024: Essential guide to the races and riders

Dan also brings you other news from around the peloton, including rising star Joe Blackmore’s impressive second GC win of the year at the Tour de Taiwan, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale’s new jersey (hot or not? Comment below) and the latest of Peter Sagan’s health as he undergoes another heart operation.

Coming up, the build-up to the Tour of Flanders begins in earnest this week, with Brugge-De Panne, E3 Saxo Classic and Gent-Wevelgem all to play for in the next six days as the Classics specialists return to Belgium.

If you love the Classics as much as we do, don’t forget you can shop our exclusive Spring Racing collection on the GCN shop, featuring designs in homage to all your favourite races.