Mike Teunissen explains what TV missed as Van der Poel and Van Aert battled back in Milan-Sanremo

Like so many of his colleagues, Teunissen didn’t have an ideal race. “I was caught up in that crash, with all the big names. It’s always crowded here in Sanremo, and 99 times out of 100 it goes well, but yeah, that one time… there were a lot of big names down there, and that was pretty striking.”

Indeed, alongside the big man from Ysselsteyn, others involved included Mathieu van der Poel, Tadej Pogacar, and Wout van Aert. However, we didn’t see MVDP’s crash on the TV broadcast. “I don’t know exactly what happened either. But that’s how it goes in a peloton: they get tangled up and they go down.”

“At first, I was in that group with Mathieu van der Poel, the first one behind the peloton,” said Teunissen. “But, well, I’m not capable of immediately passing forty riders on the Cipressa,” he said in awe.

“Seriously, Tom, those guys—it’s insane…” Teunissen looks at us as we briefly show him the damage to Van der Poel’s bike on our smartphone. “I’ve been riding flat out for five kilometers—and I mean really flat out—right on the wheel of those guys.”

“And then we start the Cipressa, we’re riding as hard as we can, and within a kilometer he’s already closed that twenty-second gap. And he’s right at the front: how is that even possible?” says the XDS-Astana rider, who has seen his fair share of impressive surges from his compatriot over the years.

‘So I couldn’t keep up with Mathieu, after which I ended up with Wout and Jorgenson. And the two of them managed to bridge the gap. And then I was back in the peloton, which was a stroke of luck,’ Teunissen continues.

That put him back in the race. “Especially when the pace is that fast on the Cipressa, everyone’s completely spent by the time they hit the Poggio. And you start with a few turns, which makes it hard to really make a difference. Actually, no one gets dropped there, except for the guys who’ve been leading the pack. The Cipressa—that’s the problem.”

For a brief moment, it even looked like the main group might catch up from the front, but they fell just four seconds short. ‘It all happens too quickly to let them catch up. If there were still ten kilometers of flat terrain left, it might have been possible.’

‘There aren’t many riders left to chase, so actually, I was more surprised that we caught Mathieu than I expected we’d catch the others,’ explains Teunissen. ‘What’s even more impressive: Mathieu gets caught in the final stretch, but still has the sense to sprint for the top ten. That takes real character.’

“Fourteenth, yeah,” Teunissen ponders. “That sprint is always a bit special here, but I didn’t get a chance to go for it. I actually still hope to finish in the top ten here someday. Ultimately, I’m glad I was there and got to experience it up close with him.”