Lance Armstrong watched in amazement at Mathieu van der Poel: "Did you see his face at that moment?"

The 2025 edition of Milan-San Remo will go down in history as the edition in which Mathieu van der Poel, Tadej Pogacar, and Filippo Ganna rode the final from the Cipressa to San Remo. Also, Lance Armstrong, George Hincapie, and Johan Bruyneel indicated in their podcast THEMOVE how impressed they were by the key players in the Milan-Sanremo finale.

The men reviewed the finale of La Primavera, starting at the foot of the Cipressa. There, everyone knew that UAE Emirates-XRG would be going hard. "It was no secret that they wanted to do the Cipressa in under nine minutes. Whatever the traditional rules are, they no longer matter. They do everything the way they want to, and it works," Bruyneel says, looking at the current generation of top riders with amazement.

Yet not everything went according to plan, the Belgian former team leader notes in the podcast. "Tim Wellens was in the front, and Jhonatan Narváez was just a little too far behind with Pogacar, but in my opinion, Isaac del Toro was missing. It's always very hectic at the bottom of the Cipressa, and he was thirty places back and never made it to the front. That could have changed things because he was in great shape."

It could have changed things, but then again, it couldn't. So riding away alone might have been possible, but then what? "The question is: would that have been enough to stay away alone? Probably Van der Poel and Ganna would have been together and caught up with Pogacar before the Poggio," said Bruyneel, who was nevertheless impressed by the tactical ingenuity of the team from the Emirates. "It was an amazing strategy by UAE. I loved it."

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Armstrong and Bruyneel both agree that Van der Poel and Pogacar were the best after Milan-Sanremo

"Pogacar went with three kilometers to go. He did exactly what he had to do; he went straight from the bottom of the Poggio. But I must say: Van der Poel was impressive," Bruyneel concludes. "He could even launch a counterattack on the top of the Poggio, just like two years ago. When he got away on the Cipressa with Pogacar, it was already certain that he would be able to keep up on the Poggio," according to the analysis of the experienced sports director.

Armstrong agrees. "Mathieu van der Poel: amazing," the American praised. "Everyone expected Tadej Pogacar to win Milan-Sanremo. But when Pogacar went and everyone else gave up, it seemed as if Van der Poel was sitting there with his arms folded. Did you see his face at that moment?" Armstrong asked himself out loud, visibly impressed. Bruyneel thought that was a bit exaggerated. "Mathieu was also right up there at the limit," he replied with a grin.

Armstrong enjoys how Milan-Sanremo is now being ridden compared to five, ten, or twenty years ago. "Pogacar is making the classics reinvent themselves. Attack, recover, attack, recover: that's the job. It was a different course, a different Milan-Sanremo. Normally, the final part of the Poggio was always decided on the same five hundred meters. But Pogacar does it completely differently," the man from Texas states in amazement.

Van der Poel and Pogacar will meet again this Friday, but this time in the E3 Saxo Classic. For Pogacar, this will be his first Flemish classic in two years after he skipped last year's spring races on the cobblestones. Van der Poel will start as the defending champion in the E3 Saxo Classic and the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. Pogacar will undoubtedly ride the Tour of Flanders, but at the time of writing, it is unclear whether the Slovenian will also compete in Paris-Roubaix. His team will communicate about this at a later date.

Read also

Sporza analysts see unstoppable Van der Poel: “If Pogacar wants to win the Tour of Flanders, there’s only one way”

These are the 5 highlights after a historic Milan-Sanremo: Will Pogacar ever win 'La Primavera'?

Van der Poel's second Sanremo win crowns historic streak for Alpecin-Deceuninck: "We can truly be proud"

Preview of E3 Saxo Classic 2025 | Van der Poel, Pogacar, Van Aert and one man who made this race his main goal

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