Most riders can only dream of beating Tadej Pogačar. Mathieu van der Poel only needs to wake up, confirm it’s a hilly one-day race on the menu, and then smell blood.
At Milan-Sanremo, Pogačar did everything – his words, as well as every observer’s – but Van der Poel was equal to him and then better than him, winning in a sprint on the Via Roma against Filippo Ganna and the Slovenian. It was Van der Poel’s second Sanremo title in three years, securing an Alpecin-Deceuninck hattrick. Only six riders in the history of the sport have won more Monuments than Van der Poel. If Pogačar is the GOAT, Van der Poel is the greatest Classics rider of his generation, maybe even of the century.
“I’m pretty emotional because the race was so hard, and it’s difficult to believe that I’ve won another Monument again,” Van der Poel said afterwards. “It keeps going for me and the team, and it’s not something that we should take for granted. Yet another year we take a Monument – it’s something to be proud of. I’m very happy and proud to win for a second time and every Monument is special, but this one is extra special because of the way the race developed. The team was incredible at crucial points – like they always are – and to win three times in a row is maybe something that has never happened before and maybe will never happen again. It’s something to cherish.”
Van der Poel’s career is entangled with Wout van Aert, his cyclocross and Classics arch-rival. But his other battle, arguably more thrilling, is with Pogačar. Van der Poel’s success against the UAE Team Emirates-XRG man started at Amstel Gold Race in 2019, when Pogačar was fresh out of the U23s and unrecognisable, and continued at Strade Bianche (2021), Dwars door Vlaanderen (2022), Tour of Flanders (2002), Milan-Sanremo (2023), the World Championships (2023) and Sanremo, again, in 2025. Seven times he’s beaten him, only three times has Pogačar struck back.
“Tadej is everyone’s rival,” Van der Poel said. “If you beat him, he was also close to victory – he’s always aggressive. He’s not only one of the best Classics riders, but one of the best Grand Tour riders. He’s a generational talent that I’m happy to race against him, and especially to beat him it’s quite special.”
There was one moment on the Poggio when it looked like Van der Poel’s resistance would give in, when Pogačar would finally break free. But it was on the Cipressa, when the race sparkled into life, that Van der Poel most felt the effort. “I was quite confident I could follow on the Poggio and the Cipressa was harder. It probably was for everyone if you see what happened there; the pace was quite incredible from the bottom. You knew he was going to try to drop us. It’s very difficult on a climb like the Poggio [to make a race-winning attack] so he had to go full gas on the Cipressa to make this group happen.”
Towards the end of the Poggio, with Pogačar’s window of opportunity narrowing, Van der Poel attempted his own move. “I really tried to go solo,” he said, “because you never know in a sprint like this after such a hard race. Pogačar is definitely not slow and Filippo is fast in a sprint, and after a race like this it’s not who's fastest but who is strongest.”
Indeed, as the finish line came into sight, each of the three warriors sizing each other up, it was Van der Poel who went first. “I surprised him by launching my sprint with 300m to go. Everyone assumes and thinks that short sprints are better for me because it’s worked a couple of times, but I knew from the winter that I could use this [a longer sprint] to my advantage.”
Only Liège-Bastogne-Liège (third in 2024) and Il Lombardia (10th in 2020) remain for him to win in the Monument count. Will he readjust his targets, drop some weight to go up the bigger climbs even faster? “No, I will focus on this. These kinds of races are impossible to win at the moment against riders like Tadej and Remco [Evenepoel]. Maybe not impossible, but for sure I have to be lucky. It’s better for me to focus on the races I am the best at and try to win them as much as possible.”
Ahead of the northern European Classics where he's aiming to win Paris-Roubaix for a third consecutive year and the Tour of Flanders for a record fourth time, that’s an ominous sign. Van der Poel’s hunger has not abated, his thirst for more is not yet quenched. “We try to enjoy this moment a bit more than we used to because it’s not something that is normal. It’s something that one day will stop at one point so we have to enjoy it.”
