Milan-San Remo 2021 - 'I gambled wrong' - Wout van Aert admits to errors as Jasper Stuyen wins
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Published 20/03/2021 at 19:57 GMT
Jumbo-Visma rider Wout van Aert could only manage a third-placed finish at Milan-San Remo on Saturday afternoon, with Belgium's Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) the winner. Caleb Ewan challenged Stuyven for victory but ended up second overall, with Mathieu van der Poel finishing up in fifth place despite starting as favourite.
Highlights: Stuyven's late attack shocks the big boys at Milan-San Remo
Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) said he made the wrong decisions towards the end of Milan-San Remo, with victory going to Trek-Segafredo’s Jasper Stuyven.
Belgian cyclist Stuyven broke away from the descent of the Poggio and was able to withstand an attack from a bunch including Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal), who finished second.
Van Aert was able to claim the last podium place, and he believed he misjudged his own moment of attack.
“Like always it was a fast descent of the Poggio,” he said after the race.
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“Straight at the bottom, Jasper went on the attack. It was a really good move and then afterwards it was a bit hard for me to chase because I didn’t want to waste my chances in the sprint.
“Of course a lot of guys were looking at me but I just came up short. In the end, Caleb was a bit faster than me in the sprint from our group. It’s always a difficult final few kilometers but today I gambled wrong.
"I had a good sprint after a hard race but it was difficult to take the right decisions in the end. Nevertheless, we have a nice winner and we have to be satisfied with third place.”
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Alpecin-Fenix rider Mathieu van der Poel was the favourite going into the race, but he could only manage a fifth-placed finish. He was unable to make a move to keep up with Stuyven when he timed his late attack.
“I was where I was supposed to be on the Poggio,” Van der Poel said.
“I could follow the attacks of Julian (Alaphilippe) and Wout there. That was good but the attacks were a bit too late, I think, and on the easiest part of the Poggio. Then it was quite a big group, when you come down there are guys from the second group who are going to attack with a lot of speed from behind and it’s very difficult to react.
“Like everyone says, it’s a very difficult race to win. It’s not easy to make a gap on the Poggio because the speed is so high there that it’s just too difficult to really go away alone. Then it becomes technical in the end.”
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