Jasper Philipsen and Mathieu van der Poel celebrated collectively after combining completely to present Alpecin-Deceuninck a second consecutive victory at Milan-San Remo.
Final 12 months, Van der Poel attacked excessive of the Poggio to win alone. This 12 months he joined Tadej Pogačar on the descent however opted to sacrifice his probabilities within the small group to work for Philipsen.
Within the closing two kilometres, he chased after late attackers Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious), Matteo Sobrero (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) to present his teammate a shot at victory within the dash.
It was exemplary teamwork, a particular friendship, and a shared victory.
“On the descent of the Poggio I begged Mathieu on the radio to not work with Pogačar as a result of I had nice legs,” Philipsen revealed post-race.
“I’ve to thank him for what he did. I feel he did an exquisite job bringing again all of the assaults and holding it again for a dash. I in all probability would have received with out him. We might be so proud as a crew to win Milan-San Remo twice.”
Van der Poel admitted he had hoped to experience to the end with Pogačar however then switched to Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Plan B within the 12-rider end.
“Oh, how I’d have beloved to have ridden to the end with Tadej,” Van der Poel admitted. “However then Jasper instantly indicated that he nonetheless had good legs. We’re all the time sincere with one another and thankfully, I used to be in a position to chase Mohorič and the others. I needed to do it, there was no time to linger.
“We might be very pleased with our crew. It’s not straightforward to win this Monument two years in a row. In fact, I might quite win myself, however I can get pleasure from this too.”
Philipsen admitted he felt the strain after the world championed his crew chief sacrificed to make sure Milan-San Remo led to a dash.
“I used to be actually afraid as a result of I did not need to fuck up,” he admitted.
“I’ve fucked up sprints this 12 months and so if I might misplaced this one it might have been a missed alternative for the remainder of my life.”
Philipsen naturally praised Van der Poel’s generosity.
“Mathieu is the final man to consider himself, he likes to assist his teammates, like I helped him finally 12 months’s Paris-Roubaix.
“I am going to all the time keep in mind and be glad about what he did to present me an opportunity to win a monument. I would by no means get the prospect once more in my profession.”
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