The fastest Sanremo goes to the Belgian Philipsen. Matthews and Pogacar beaten in the sprint

The fastest Milan-Sanremo in history (46.100 km/h) was rightly won by a sprinter, the Belgian Jasper Philipsen, who preceded the Australian Michael Matthews and the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, the most awaited and feared among the big.

A full-throttle Sanremo concluded with a photo finish sprint, on a Saturday full of sporting events. The Belgian slipped to the left of the Australian, touching the barriers, and slipping into the only possible opening.

A last-gasp Sanremo, won by a sprinter from the Flemish school, certainly not a novice. With 6 stages under his belt at the Tour de France, one in the last Tirreno Adriatico and a second place at Paris-Roubaix last year, Philipsen was still on the grid of favourites. Considerable support came from the world champion, the Dutch Van Der Poel, his teammate, who was very good at mending a couple of tears that Pogacar had suffered on the Poggio ramp, the last climb before the finish of via Rome.

“I owe a lot to my captain,” Philipsen said immediately after the race. “Without him I wouldn’t have been able to establish myself.”