Week 11 for Wout van Aert, "problems" for Pogačar, and final preparations for Philipsen: How these Milan-Sanremo favorites spent their week

After Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico, we have a much clearer picture of the top contenders for Milan-Sanremo. Filippo Ganna, Tom Pidcock, Mathieu van der Poel, Mads Pedersen, and Matteo Jorgenson all made a strong impression in one of the lead-up races, reinforcing their names for the upcoming classics. But what about the riders who spent the past week training instead of racing?

Of course, that brings us to the Visma | Lease a Bike riders training in Tenerife. Wout van Aert has made it a habit this year to post weekly recaps on Instagram, and on Monday, he shared a series of photos from Mount Teide. However, Van Aert will not be lining up for Milan-Sanremo on Saturday—he's set to restart his season six days later at the E3 Saxo Classic. His teammate Tiesj Benoot is following the same schedule, while Wilco Kelderman, who was also training there, is focusing on the Volta a Catalunya and the Tour of the Basque Country.

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Tadej Pogacar had to recover for a while after his crash in Strade Bianche. The Slovenian had some bandages around his limbs, which caused some issues during his training around Monaco. Despite this, Pogačar remains the top favorite for Milan-Sanremo on Saturday.

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Jasper Philipsen is the defending champion in Milan-Sanremo. Unlike his Alpecin-Deceuninck teammate Mathieu van der Poel, who also starts in La Primavera, Philipsen skipped Tirreno-Adriatico. Instead, he will resume racing on Wednesday at Nokere Koerse. On Sunday, he shared on Instagram that he was still putting in some final training efforts ahead of Milan-Sanremo.

Philipsen recovers after training efforts toward Sanremo

Read also

Van der Poel ready, but are his Sanremo contenders ready too? "It seemed like Mathieu was more focused on his rivals"

Van der Poel joins eager Ganna for upcoming showdown with buddy Pogacar: "I don't fear Tadej"

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