Maarten Tjallingii showed his strong form today in the 106th edition of Milano-Sanremo. The Team LottoNL-jumbo rider rode in the front for hours in La Primavera. The Dutchman, like last year, was the engine of an 11-men breakaway.

“With Bono and Barta, I joked about last year,” said Tjallingii. Both men led the race as well in 2014. “We said that we wanted to hold the lead nine kilometres longer.”
 
Unfortunately, they didn’t succeed in their mission. The maximum lead of Tjallingii and his fellow escapees was just over ten minutes on Sunday, and after 265 kilometres, Tjallingii’s attack came to an early end again.
 
John Degenkolb of Team Giant-Alpecin eventually managed to take the win on Via Roma in Sanremo. The German held off last year’s winner Alexander Kristoff of team Katusha. Australian Michael Matthews of team Orica-GreenEDGE finished third.
 
Paul Martens ended 17th.

“I really wanted to do well today,” Martens said. “Milano-Sanremo suits me. I’m pleased that I finish in the first group, but unfortunately, I messed up my sprint a bit. I should have been a little bit more focused so I could have been in a better position. I expected that the group would slow down and that I could move up, but some of the sprinters still had some team-mates with them.”
 
Sports Director Erik Dekker was satisfied about Martens’ performance.

“Paul was attentive in the right moments. He was in good position, but I think he lacked some energy in the final. He could not really get in the mix in the sprint, but that would have been hard for him anyway. Almost all the riders who finished in the top ten win bunch sprints throughout the season.”
 

Moreno Hofland rode his first Milano-Sanremo on Sunday. The sprinter learned a valuable lesson.
 
“I was held up by a crash on the Cipressa. When I wanted to get started again, I just couldn’t. All of a sudden, I was completely exhausted.
 
“Of course I’d rather finish in the first group, but this is something I can build on towards the future. Stamina comes with age. Until today, my longest race was 220 kilometres.”
 
Dekker said that Hofland did little wrong during the race.

“He rode efficiently, was positioned just fine and ate well, but eventually, he ran out of power. Three hundred kilometres remains a challenge. The course here is supposedly flat, but 170 pro riders were dropped. That says a lot.”