Milan Sanremo 2022, Mohoric beats Van Aert and Pogacar and so did the Colombians

Milan Sanremo 2022 was up to the big races on this season's calendar. As one of the most important classics in history, being the first of the 5 monuments of cycling, it was not expected less as it also had big names from the world squad looking for the title.

It was 200.3 kilometers of travel between Milan and San Remo in northwest Italy where the lot decided to take the start with some peace of mind, while some runners broke the harmony and set out to form the escape of the day, reaching more than 7 minutes in relation to the squad where the favorites were traveling.

Van Aert, Van der Poel, Sagan, Roglic, Pogacar, Pedersen among others, came as the main cyclists to consider given that their conditions are very good in these types of one-day competitions in which explosiveness is key to going for victory.

The teams most interested in hunting were Jumbo Visma, Total Energie, Ineos Grenadiers, and the UAE Team, which succeeded while the escaped cyclists did not agree to work hard enough to drive away the larger group and aspire to compete for the finish in a small group.

Along the way, some favorite riders were left as Tom Pidcock who arrived as one of the cards of the British team to fight the victory. Others such as three-time world champion Peter Sagan suffered mechanical breakdowns.

Over the final 50 km the peloton pushed the pace to reduce the time that the escape was ahead of them and at that moment the race takes on another dynamic with the main protagonists. In just 25 kilometers they managed to reduce the difference between the two groups to just over 1 minute.

The squad lengthened and since then the rivals were put on alert, anticipating an attack on the ascent or descent to Cipressa, a place where the strongest usually try to escape.

Pogacar and Van Aert put their teams to control their rivals by putting a fairly strong pace of reaching the last promotion located at Poggio.

Colombians Didier Merchán and Jhonatan Restrepo, who were with their Drone Hopper Androni Giocattoli team, fell behind during the tour, as this type of competition was not well suited to their conditions. Although Restrepo reached 1:14 of the winner occupying the 59th place at the end of the day, Merchán retired in the course.

Over the last few kilometers with a small group some of the favorites fought by their own means to stay ahead of the end, others had at least one teammate who would protect them almost to the finish line.

Pogacar was quite strong attacking at various points in the climb to Poggio, but on every occasion he was neutralized by Mathieu van der Poel and his other rivals, including his compatriot Primoz Roglic.

With 5 km to go before the finish, Slovenian Matej Mohoric of Bahrain Victorious threw himself in full, who surprised with his strength at a key moment in the race, perhaps risking more in the downhill to get a relevant advantage and prevent his contenders from reaching him to face victory in a tight sprint.

Finally, the Slovenian national champion managed to beat all the favorites with great skill and show of courage. In second place came the Frenchman Anthony Turgis of Total Direct Energie and the podium was closed by Mathieu van der Poel of Alpecin who arrives stomping after several months of absence from the competition due to problems in his back.

KEEP READING: