Cycling, Van Der Poel 'monumental': records set. Liege and Lombardy in sight

Rome, 23 March 2025 - Matthew Van Der Poel It is monumental, and never was an adjective more suitable: with the second success at Milan-Sanremo after the one already achieved in 2023, the Dutchman has risen to the top 7 Monument, pairing right up Tadej pogacar in this special ranking.  

Van Der Poel's Monument Classics Stats

Not only that: the runner of theAlpecin-Deceuninck, a team that in turn has bagged 3 editions in a row of Very classicin 19 participations Monument has always reached the finish line, with the worst result being 13esimo place collected at Milan-Sanremo 2020. Since then, for the son and grandson of art, entering the top 10 has been a default, as no runner has ever managed to do so far: not even Eddy Merckx e Roger De Vlaeminck, respectively stopped at 13 e 11 placements in the top 10 in a row against the 17 of the one who opened the season in the best way MonumentIn this category, the total successes are 7 (2, precisely, to the Milan-Sanremo, in 2023 and in 2025, 3 al Tour of Flanders, in 2020, in 2022 and in 2024, 2 to the Paris-Roubaix, in 2023 and in 2024), thus breaking through the wall of the 40% on the latest ones 17 participations the podiums are instead 12, and in this case we even go beyond the 70% on apparitions. Broadening the spectrum to all the 19 Monument disputed, the ratio with successes drops to 36% and 63% for the podiums, soaring instead at 94% for the top 10: numbers, in fact, 'monumental' and perhaps to be improved already this season.

Van Der Poel's thoughts on Liège and Lombardy

Intercepted by the microphones of The last hour, Van der Poel he was prodded on the two Monument which are still missing from his bag: the Liège-Bastogne-Liège, with the sixth place on the scoresheet 2020 and the third of the 2024, and the Tour of Lombardy, in which he came tenth in 2020. "pogacar He is one of the best ever and I think one day he will be able to win all the Monument: it is a difficult undertaking, but not impossible, especially with a rider with his characteristics, who is also good on the cobblestones, as was evident in the Tour de France, and that at the Milan-Sanremo has already shown that he can do well". Turning to himself, the Dutchman considers the mission more complicated and not only because of the presence of the Slovenian: let's not forget another phenomenon like Remco Evenepoel, still temporarily in the pits today due to the accident during training at the beginning of December. "Winning the Liège-Bastogne-Liège andThe Tour of Lombardy for me it's complicated if those two are at the start". Better, always from the perspective of Van der Poel, keep your feet on the ground. "For the moment I'm not thinking about winning all the Monument. It's not just a question of the races, but also of the participants and for me, at the moment, it seems impossible because there are unbeatable runners at the start in those races. Furthermore, specific preparation is needed: I prefer to enjoy what I have achieved so far and postpone this thought until later".

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