«Tonight I will celebrate, because the Milano-Sanremo is special, and this is a success to remember because I achieved it in the most beautiful way».

Mathieu Van der Poel is right who, 62 years after his grandfather Raymond Poulidor's success, won the Spring Classic ahead of a great Filippo Ganna and his all-time rival Wout Van Aert, who immediately honored the Dutch weapons ("I have no regrets, because it was clear that today the best man won"). Van der Poel went to take the race too many times his father Adri escaped by responding to the attack on the Poggio, 6.6 km from the finish, by the number one favorite Tadej Pogacar (at the end fourth) and then sprinting in turn one kilometer later. Previously the race had been quite boring with a couple of supporting players breaking away, then the favorites emerged at exactly the time and in the way they were most expected. It was Pogacar who gave the jolt on the Poggio, and after the great work done for him by his teammate Wellens, he placed his sprint right in the hardest section.

Only Van Aert, Van der Poel and a great Ganna resisted him. Then, before the brow, Van der Poel made his move, finding the right space to leave, immediately gaining a few metres. Pogacar didn't manage to answer him, and neither did Van Aert, Ganna immediately recovered but it was too late to keep up with the Dutchman ("On the climb I could follow Van der Poel - he will explain later -, but I was afraid, I I didn't even know how my legs would react"). So the son and nephew of art has gone to seize the victory he strongly desired in the city which this year celebrates the centenary of the birth of Italo Calvino, to whom he has named the seafront.

For Van der Poel, champion also in cyclo-cross, it is the 41st victory of his career on the road. The sprint for second place was won by Ganna, but it's a placement that leaves a little bitterness in the mouth of the Tokyo quartet's Olympian. «I wanted to give something more to the team that believed in me. I'm happy for the second place but also regretted - he said to the microphones of Rai Sport -, because it's the umpteenth of this season. Let's hope a victory on the road comes soon: every left is lost. However, today's race gives me morale for the next ones, and I'm betting everything on Roubaix».