From 2008 to today, only one rider has managed to win Milano-Sanremo twice: Mathieu van der Poel. That alone tells us two things. First, just how insanely hard the Classicissima is to crack, light-years away from the old “the strongest always wins” logic. And second, just how insanely different Van der Poel is from everyone else.

In an era where Tadej Pogačar pretty much does whatever he wants, Van der Poel is the only one capable of putting a real speed bump in the Slovenian’s cannibal ambitions. At Sanremo, he’s done it every single time over the past three years, hanging tough on the Poggio and, last year, even on the Cipressa. He won in 2023 and 2025, while in 2024, he turned super-domestique and delivered the win to his teammate Jasper Philipsen.

But it’s worth rewinding to last year’s masterpiece. Pogačar lit up the Cipressa like we hadn’t seen in almost 20 years, going full gas from the base. Only two riders could stay glued to his wheel: Filippo Ganna and Mathieu himself – grandson of Raymond Poulidor, who also won a Sanremo back in 1961. What followed was universally hailed as one of the best finales of the season: tense, brutal, edge-of-the-seat stuff. Van der Poel outsprinted Ganna and Pogačar in a Sanremo that will be talked about for years.

Today Van der Poel turns 31, and the hope is that his body and hunger will keep him at the top for many seasons to come. Two Milano-Sanremo. Two Paris-Roubaix. Three Tour of Flanders. A Strade Bianche. Stage wins at the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France. Van der Poel is a force of nature, one of those riders who comes along once every 20 or 30 years.

These days – just to mix things up – he’s busy dominating the cyclocross courses, his first true love. But the countdown to the 2026 road season has already begun. We can’t wait to see him back in action. In the meantime… happy birthday, Mathieu!