Van der Poel issues Milan-Sanremo warning with Tirreno flex

Van der Poel was ostensibly riding to shed Alpecin-Premier Tech teammate Jasper Philipsen’s sprint rivals from the peloton, and he succeeded, with Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) and Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Intermarché) among those quickly dropped.

But Van der Poel maintained his forcing even when Philipsen himself began to struggle, and eventually barely twenty riders could stay on his wheel to the top of the climb. Van der Poel continued to pile on the pressure over the other side. 

All told, he would spend the bones of 30km drilling at the front of the race before the peloton eventually reformed ahead of the traditional bunch finish in San Benedetto del Tronto, where Milan won the stage ahead of Sam Welsford (Ineos).

Speaking to Eurosportafterwards, Welsford outlined just how much Van der Poel’s cameo had afflicted the fast men.

“It was crazy, the climb was so hard. They rode so fast to drop the sprinters,” Welsford said. “I felt really good on the climb, I had all the guys around me pulling, but every time I looked down, I was doing over 500 watts. It was just incredible, and we weren’t catching them either.

“The boys did a fantastic job on the climb, they were pacing me and they looked after me and got me over, but on the circuit, we had to chase pretty hard to catch the split. I think Van der Poel was pulling that by himself, which made it quite hard for us.”

Pavel Bittner (Picnic-PostNL), fifth on the stage, echoed Welsford’s thoughts about the impact of Van der Poel’s pace-making. “I thought it was going to be a nice day with a sprint and some laps, but actually I was struggling the most today,” he told Eurosport. “I’m glad it’s over.”

Van der Poel was circumspect when asked to explain his forcing by Het Laatste Nieuws after the stage. “The plan was to hurt a few sprinters. As a team, we executed our little plan well,” he said.

Indeed, Philipsen made it back to the peloton, but the Belgian missed the chance to sprint when he came down in a crash with Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step) with 2km to go. “Jasper’s crash didn’t look too bad, but it is of course a shame,” Van der Poel said. “This is a missed opportunity for him.”

Alpecin manager Christoph Roodhoft confirmed that Philipsen had not sustained lasting injury in the crash. “It’s a shame, but otherwise nothing seems to be wrong,” he told Het Laatste Nieuws. “Everything is okay with Jasper.”

Alpecin-Premier Tech have won the past three editions of Milan-Sanremo through Van der Poel (2023 and 2025) and Philipsen (2024). All eyes are on Tadej Pogačar to break his Primavera hoodoo next Saturday, but his chances will depend on whether he can break the defending champion on the Cipressa and Poggio. On the evidence of Tirreno-Adriatico, Van der Poel will be a very tough out.