Johan Bruyneel is sure: "Pogacar won’t drop Van der Poel in Milan-San Remo"

Mathieu van der Poel is ready for Milan-San Remo. That is clear after his performance in Tirreno-Adriatico. The Dutchman impressively won two stages and made an impact at other moments as well, even on Johan Bruyneel. "I understand that he is better than ever," said the former rider and team director in his podcast The Move.

Bruyneel doesn’t base this solely on his own observations. "I have information from within the peloton that his current form level is truly scary. That he is better than ever. In the final stage, he wanted to make one last, intense workout and hurt the peloton."

The now 61-year-old Belgian has a lot of confidence in Van der Poel for Milan-San Remo, the race he brilliantly won last year. "I dare to predict already that Van der Poel will stick with Pogacar in Milan-San Remo. Pogacar will not be able to drop him," Bruyneel asserts.

On race behavior in the final stage of Tirreno
Bruyneel also shed light on Van der Poel’s notable race tactics in the final stage of Tirreno-Adriatico. The leader of Alpecin-Premier Tech spent a long time riding alone at the front of the peloton on the way to San Benedetto del Tronto, aiming to drop the sprinters, but Van der Poel single-handedly caused even his teammate and fast finisher Jasper Philipsen to fail on the climbs.

In his (very straightforward) analysis of the final Tirreno-Adriatico stage, former Vuelta a España winner Chris Horner had little praise for 'the fool' Mathieu van der Poel. Horner claimed he saw several ‘stupid’ moves from the two-time stage winner and did not consider him a team player towards his teammate Philipsen.

Bruyneel clearly has a different opinion. "It’s very simple: Van der Poel is the undisputed team leader. He clearly communicated this beforehand in the stage briefing. ‘Listen guys, I still need an intense workout today. Do you agree?’ Everyone would have agreed; the directors, coaches, even Philipsen."

"Then it’s up to Philipsen to stay in the peloton and sprint at the end for the victory. The chance of regrouping was already very high anyway. It’s unfortunate that due to a crash he couldn’t defend his chances. Would Horner have been so critical of Van der Poel if Philipsen hadn’t crashed and had won the stage? Winning the stage was not the most important thing for the team."