Milano-Sanremo: Jasper Stuyven surprises the favorites with late solo dash

Published March 20, 2021 09:49AM

Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) surprised the favorites with a late winning attack to take Milano-Sanremo on Saturday.

The Belgian punched clear shortly after the bottom of the descent of the Poggio to go away from an elite group before launching the time trial of his life to hold off the pursuit. The 28-year-old came to the line just meters ahead of Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) and Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), who took second and third place, respectively, in the gallop for podium places. Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) came fourth.

“It’s the biggest win of my career,” Stuyven said. “The boys put me in perfect position, but the legs were empty in the end, but if you win by one centimeter it’s enough.”

Pre-race favorites Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) finished fifth and Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) finished 16th, at the back of the pack that had chased after Stuyven.

Styuven’s win came after a week of speculation about the “big three” of van Aert, Alaphilippe and van der Poel.

Poggio showdown

Stuyven had stayed toward the front of the race through the final as he and teammate Vincenzo Nibali waited for their chances. Ineos Grenadiers towed a reduced peloton into the decisive Poggio climb at nine kilometers to go, with Filippo Ganna pressing the pace hard through the opening kilometers.

In a throwback to 2020, Alaphilippe lit up the action at 6.5km to go, with van Aert first to respond. The duo almost went clear, but van der Poel shadowed the move seconds later, bringing a small group together at the top of the climb.

Van Aert pulled the leaders through the upper slopes of the climb as Ewan hung on, holding out hopes for a bunch sprint. Tom Pidcock pushed the pace through the descent to briefly split the group, but the bunch came back together to set up Stuyven for his winning dash.

Jumbo-Visma controls the Cipressa

Defending champion van Aert had set his teammates to work to crank the pace and control the bunch on the Cipressa after archrival van der Poel had speculated about using the climb as a launchpad earlier in the week. The pace shed several of the heavy sprinters as van der Poel opted to cool his jets around 10-wheels back.

Eight-man break goes long

The break of eight formed in the opening minutes and soon went clear, with Nicola Conci (Trek-Segafredo), Andrea Peron and Charles Planet (both Team Novo Nordisk), Mattia Viel and Filippo Tagliani (both Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec), Alessandro Tonelli (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè), Taco van der Hoorn (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert) and Mathias Norsgaard (Movistar) in the move.

The longest-lasting escapee enjoyed some 275km of air time at the front of the race before being swept up by the charging peloton on the slopes of the Cipressa.

Milano-Sanremo Results

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	STUYVEN Jasper	Trek – Segafredo	6:38:06.000
2	EWAN Caleb	Lotto Soudal	0:00.000
3	VAN AERT Wout	Team Jumbo-Visma	0:00.000
4	SAGAN Peter	BORA – hansgrohe	0:00.000
5	VAN DER POEL Mathieu	Alpecin – Fenix	0:00.000
6	MATTHEWS Michael	Team BikeExchange	0:00.000
7	ARANBURU Alex	Astana – Premier Tech	0:00.000
8	COLBRELLI Sonny	Bahrain – Victorious	0:00.000
9	KRAGH ANDERSEN Søren	Team DSM	0:00.000
10	TURGIS Anthony	Team Total Direct Energie	0:00.000
11	MOHORIČ Matej	Bahrain – Victorious	0:00.000
12	TRENTIN Matteo	UAE Team Emirates	0:00.000
13	VAN AVERMAET Greg	AG2R Citroën Team	0:00.000
14	SCHACHMANN Maximilian	BORA – hansgrohe	0:00.000
15	PIDCOCK Thomas	INEOS Grenadiers	0:00.000
16	ALAPHILIPPE Julian	Deceuninck – Quick Step	0:00.000
17	KWIATKOWSKI Michał	INEOS Grenadiers	0:00.000
18	NIZZOLO Giacomo	Team Qhubeka ASSOS	0:06.000
19	BOUHANNI Nacer	Team Arkéa Samsic	0:06.000
20	ACKERMANN Pascal	BORA – hansgrohe	0:06.000
21	NAESEN Oliver	AG2R Citroën Team	0:06.000
22	LAPORTE Christophe	Cofidis	0:06.000
23	VENDRAME Andrea	AG2R Citroën Team	0:06.000
24	VERMEERSCH Gianni	Alpecin – Fenix	0:06.000
25	SERRANO Gonzalo	Movistar Team	0:06.000
26	DÉMARE Arnaud	Groupama – FDJ	0:06.000
27	BARDET Romain	Team DSM	0:06.000
28	STANNARD Robert	Team BikeExchange	0:06.000
28	SIMON Julien	Team Total Direct Energie	0:06.000
29	GARCÍA CORTINA Iván	Movistar Team	0:06.000
30	VAN BAARLE Dylan	INEOS Grenadiers	0:06.000
31	DEGENKOLB John	Lotto Soudal	0:06.000
32	OSS Daniel	BORA – hansgrohe	0:06.000
33	FORMOLO Davide	UAE Team Emirates	0:10.000
34	NIBALI Vincenzo	Trek – Segafredo	0:10.000
35	HIGUITA Sergio	EF Education – Nippo	0:10.000
36	ŠTYBAR Zdeněk	Deceuninck – Quick Step	0:12.000
37	CLARKE Simon	Team Qhubeka ASSOS	0:18.000
38	COVI Alessandro	UAE Team Emirates	0:21.000
39	ROTA Lorenzo	Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert Matériaux	0:29.000
40	BALLERINI Davide	Deceuninck – Quick Step	0:29.000
41	BENNETT Sam	Deceuninck – Quick Step	0:29.000
42	CIMOLAI Davide	Israel Start-Up Nation	0:29.000
43	BARGUIL Warren	Team Arkéa Samsic	0:29.000
44	IZAGIRRE Gorka	Astana – Premier Tech	0:29.000
45	FELLINE Fabio	Astana – Premier Tech	0:29.000
46	DE GENDT Aimé	Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert Matériaux	0:29.000
47	FIORELLI Filippo	Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè	0:29.000
48	MEZGEC Luka	Team BikeExchange	0:29.000
49	GENIETS Kevin	Groupama – FDJ	0:29.000
50	MARENGO Umberto	Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè	0:29.000
51	VALGREN Michael	EF Education – Nippo	0:29.000
52	MARTIN Guillaume	Cofidis	0:29.000
53	LAMPAERT Yves	Deceuninck – Quick Step	0:29.000
54	CARUSO Damiano	Bahrain – Victorious	0:29.000
55	MOSCA Jacopo	Trek – Segafredo	1:21.000
56	VLIEGEN Loïc	Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert Matériaux	1:28.000
57	WIŚNIOWSKI Łukasz	Team Qhubeka ASSOS	1:28.000
58	RUSSO Clément	Team Arkéa Samsic	1:38.000
59	RUMAC Josip	Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec	1:38.000
60	SBARAGLI Kristian	Alpecin – Fenix	1:38.000
61	CORT Magnus	EF Education – Nippo	1:38.000
62	BONIFAZIO Niccolò	Team Total Direct Energie	1:38.000
63	GANNA Filippo	INEOS Grenadiers	1:38.000
64	SOBRERO Matteo	Astana – Premier Tech	1:38.000
65	KONOVALOVAS Ignatas	Groupama – FDJ	1:38.000
66	HOFSTETTER Hugo	Israel Start-Up Nation	1:38.000
67	BATTAGLIN Enrico	Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè	1:38.000
68	VIVIANI Elia	Cofidis	1:45.000
69	OOMEN Sam	Team Jumbo-Visma	1:45.000
70	BURGHARDT Marcus	BORA – hansgrohe	1:45.000
71	GILBERT Philippe	Lotto Soudal	1:45.000
72	ZANA Filippo	Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè	1:45.000
73	SIMMONS Quinn	Trek – Segafredo	1:45.000
74	SKUJIŅŠ Toms	Trek – Segafredo	1:45.000
75	GOGL Michael	Team Qhubeka ASSOS	1:45.000
76	SWIFT Ben	INEOS Grenadiers	1:45.000
77	WELLENS Tim	Lotto Soudal	2:39.000
78	TUSVELD Martijn	Team DSM	2:39.000
79	ROOSEN Timo	Team Jumbo-Visma	2:39.000
80	CAMPENAERTS Victor	Team Qhubeka ASSOS	2:39.000
81	DE MARCHI Alessandro	Israel Start-Up Nation	2:51.000
82	PONOMAR Andrii	Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec	3:00.000
83	DURBRIDGE Luke	Team BikeExchange	3:12.000
84	OLIVEIRA Nelson	Movistar Team	3:13.000
85	VILLELLA Davide	Movistar Team	3:13.000
86	PASQUALON Andrea	Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert Matériaux	3:13.000
87	MCLAY Daniel	Team Arkéa Samsic	3:13.000
88	KRISTOFF Alexander	UAE Team Emirates	3:13.000
89	DEWULF Stan	AG2R Citroën Team	3:13.000
90	MAS Lluís	Movistar Team	3:13.000
91	KOCH Jonas	Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert Matériaux	3:13.000
92	BENEDETTI Cesare	BORA – hansgrohe	3:13.000
93	PUCCIO Salvatore	INEOS Grenadiers	3:13.000
94	VAN EMDEN Jos	Team Jumbo-Visma	3:13.000
95	GUARNIERI Jacopo	Groupama – FDJ	3:13.000
96	PÉRICHON Pierre-Luc	Cofidis	4:30.000
97	DE BONDT Dries	Alpecin – Fenix	5:02.000
98	ASGREEN Kasper	Deceuninck – Quick Step	5:02.000
99	SCHÄR Michael	AG2R Citroën Team	5:02.000
100	KLUGE Roger	Lotto Soudal	5:15.000
101	DE BUYST Jasper	Lotto Soudal	5:15.000
102	BISSEGGER Stefan	EF Education – Nippo	6:25.000
103	MARTINELLI Davide	Astana – Premier Tech	7:14.000
104	CONCI Nicola	Trek – Segafredo	7:14.000
105	TONELLI Alessandro	Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè	7:14.000
106	BRÄNDLE Matthias	Israel Start-Up Nation	7:14.000
107	BYSTRØM Sven Erik	UAE Team Emirates	7:14.000
108	BETTIOL Alberto	EF Education – Nippo	7:14.000
109	SCOTSON Miles	Groupama – FDJ	7:14.000
110	CHIRICO Luca	Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec	7:14.000
111	VAN DER HOORN Taco	Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert Matériaux	7:14.000
112	GAVIRIA Fernando	UAE Team Emirates	7:14.000
113	SÜTTERLIN Jasha	Team DSM	7:14.000
114	ROCHE Nicolas	Team DSM	7:14.000
115	GRUZDEV Dmitriy	Astana – Premier Tech	7:14.000
116	ARASHIRO Yukiya	Bahrain – Victorious	7:14.000
117	ROWE Luke	INEOS Grenadiers	7:14.000
118	VERGAERDE Otto	Alpecin – Fenix	7:56.000
119	PEDERSEN Casper	Team DSM	7:56.000
120	VINJEBO Emil Mielke	Team Qhubeka ASSOS	7:56.000
121	VENCHIARUTTI Nicola	Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec	7:56.000
122	COMBAUD Romain	Team DSM	7:56.000
123	BOARO Manuele	Astana – Premier Tech	7:56.000
124	NORSGAARD Mathias	Movistar Team	7:56.000
125	SABATINI Fabio	Cofidis	7:56.000
126	FRISON Frederik	Lotto Soudal	7:56.000
127	PICCOLI James	Israel Start-Up Nation	7:56.000
128	MULLEN Ryan	Trek – Segafredo	7:56.000
129	JUUL-JENSEN Christopher	Team BikeExchange	7:59.000
130	LANGEVELD Sebastian	EF Education – Nippo	7:59.000
131	VAKOČ Petr	Alpecin – Fenix	7:59.000
132	HEPBURN Michael	Team BikeExchange	10:30.000
133	KONYCHEV Alexander	Team BikeExchange	10:30.000
134	TRATNIK Jan	Bahrain – Victorious	10:30.000
135	GOUGEARD Alexis	AG2R Citroën Team	10:30.000
136	BOASSON HAGEN Edvald	Team Total Direct Energie	10:30.000
137	CAPIOT Amaury	Team Arkéa Samsic	10:30.000
138	TERPSTRA Niki	Team Total Direct Energie	10:30.000
139	VAN HOECKE Gijs	AG2R Citroën Team	10:30.000
140	BODNAR Maciej	BORA – hansgrohe	10:30.000
141	LINDEMAN Bert-Jan	Team Qhubeka ASSOS	10:30.000
142	KUSZTOR Péter	Team Novo Nordisk	10:30.000
143	TORRES Albert	Movistar Team	10:30.000
144	SAGIV Guy	Israel Start-Up Nation	10:30.000
145	SCULLY Tom	EF Education – Nippo	10:30.000
146	RICHEZE Maximiliano	UAE Team Emirates	10:30.000
147	WRIGHT Fred	Bahrain – Victorious	10:30.000
148	PETIT Adrien	Team Total Direct Energie	10:58.000
149	VISCONTI Giovanni	Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè	10:58.000
150	DECLERCQ Tim	Deceuninck – Quick Step	10:58.000
151	VANBILSEN Kenneth	Cofidis	10:58.000
152	VIVIANI Attilio	Cofidis	10:58.000
153	VANSPEYBROUCK Pieter	Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert Matériaux	10:58.000
154	SINKELDAM Ramon	Groupama – FDJ	10:58.000
155	MANZIN Lorrenzo	Team Total Direct Energie	10:58.000
156	HAUSSLER Heinrich	Bahrain – Victorious	10:58.000
157	AFFINI Edoardo	Team Jumbo-Visma	13:17.000
158	PFINGSTEN Christoph	Team Jumbo-Visma	14:55.000
159	GUERNALEC Thibault	Team Arkéa Samsic	14:55.000
160	LEYSEN Senne	Alpecin – Fenix	14:55.000
161	DAVY Clément	Groupama – FDJ	16:33.000
162	MARTENS Paul	Team Jumbo-Visma	16:33.000
163	LOZANO David	Team Novo Nordisk	18:06.000
164	POLI Umberto	Team Novo Nordisk	19:37.000
165	TAGLIANI Filippo	Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec	19:37.000
166	BRAND Sam	Team Novo Nordisk	19:37.000
167	PERON Andrea	Team Novo Nordisk	19:37.000
168	PLANET Charles	Team Novo Nordisk	19:37.000

Results provided by ProCyclingStats.