Lorena Wiebes as an artist of the Renaissance, Mathieu van der Poel as champion of the Resistance – Liberation
Who else? The Dutchman Lorena Wiebes, indisputable best sprinter in the world, won this Saturday, March 22 in San Remo, for The first female edition for twenty years of the classic Italian cycling. Jerse of European champion on the back, the SDWORX runner won her first monument with this 98th career victory, a few days after celebrating her 26th anniversary. She was ahead of her compatriot and venerable elder to the sprint (almost 38 years old) Marianne Vos (Visma – Lease a Bike) and the young Swiss Noemi Rüegg (EF Education Oatly).
If Wiebes has honored his scarecrow status on a race traditionally favorable to the fastest engaged, his overtime finish is not the only key to his success. She can draw a huge cap on a cap at His teammate Lotte Kopecky, Who managed to bring it back, at the cost of a monstrous prosecution, on Elisa Longo Borghini (Uae Team Adq). The Italian experienced had made the trunk at the foot of the Poggio, two kilometers from the finish line, and we thought until the end that it was going to redo one of the most famous filibuses in recent years on the Ligurian coast: That of Vincenzo Nibalileft alone to thwart the sprinters on Via Roma in 2018. Las. Kopecky went to pick the Italian 250 meters from the line, offering on a tray the final packaging to Lorena Wiebes, forever the first to drop the laurels from a rebuilding race. And probably not for the last time.
On the men’s side, the Primavera held its promises from one of the races to the best dramaturgy. Not happy to offer a dantesque decor, a road stuck between the azure of the sea and the harshness of La Roche, it offers the possibility of an always rewritten story. It has been years since the last difficulty of the course, the famous Poggio, had not been discussed by a group of less than thirty runners. Now were only three after that Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates XRG) fired the tablecloth with a big blow on the table erected, exploding everything in the Cipressa, 25 terminals from the term. In his wheel, alone The specialist in classics Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) And the darling of the Tifosi Filippo Ganna (ineos grenadiers) managed to follow, the French Romain Grégoire (Groupama FDJ) being forced to let go after having hung the trailer for a time.
The trio quickly took a minute on the rest of a damn slim peloton in the middle of the parasol pines, spinning towards the poggio as we go to his destiny. In this last capo, rebelote: Tadej Pogacar pressed the detonator from the foot, immediately picking up Ganna, the heaviest of the three. But despite reminders after each winning turn or almost, the reigning world champion did not manage to get rid of Van der Poel, grimacing but more than ever Sparadrap. The descent did not allow to decide between Slovenian and Dutchman. Who saw back, shortly before the red flame, the stubbornness made man: Filippo Ganna. Here they are three at the time of launching the sprint on Via Roma and, this game, Mathieu Van der Poel proved, once again, that it is the strongest. It was enough to keep so far to afford the second Milan San Remo in his career, his seventh monument. Like a certain Pogacar, on the third step of the podium today.
