While Wout Van Aert took his first Monument win in Milan-San Remo on Saturday, his cyclo-cross rival Mathieu Van Der Pol was not. The Alpecin Phoenix team leader finished 13th on Via Roma and did not move on the poggio before being blocked at the finish.

Van der Pol's successes last spring, including a phenomenal victory in the Amstel Gold Race, had raised expectations for a successful weekend in Milan-San Remo. Despite the seemingly disappointing result, however, the 25-year-old was pleased with his race development.

"I really enjoyed my first Milano-Sanremo," he told WielerFlits (opens in new tab). 'It's definitely a great race. Our goal was to be in front in Poggio and we succeeded. As a team, I think we had a perfect race in Poggio."

Van der Pol, who returned to the race last week with 15th and 13th places in Strade Bianche and Milano-Torino, said the tactic in Sanremo was to wait for a sprint finish.

Ultimately, the group he crossed the finish line with was just two seconds behind Van-Earle and second-placed Julien Alaphilippe, but it was impossible to catch them on the flat before the finish.

"The two best [Van Aert and Julien Alaphilippe] were in front. The gap at the top of Poggio was small, and there were still some big names in the chase group, and I got a little caught up in the sprint for third place, so I had to go back to the front to catch them."

"The result wasn't what I expected, but things are getting better. Wednesday is Gran Piemonte and I haven't looked at the course in detail yet, but I want to play my part at the front."

Christoph Rudhoft, Van der Poel's team manager at Alpecin Phoenix, acknowledged Van der Poel's tactical choice, but said it was a disappointing result for the team.

According to "Het Nieuwsblad," he said that the Dutchman's "spark" to mount a decisive attack for victory was still absent after six months away from racing.

"With Sunweb, UAE Team Emirates, and Bahrain McLaren, he thought the cooperation of the chasing group would be advantageous and the front two would be caught. Unfortunately, that didn't happen." Unfortunately, it didn't. You can't always make the right choice.

"The result was not what I expected. I have to be honest about that. Sometimes the difference between winning and 13th place is smaller than the results indicate. I don't want to say it wasn't as good as we expected, but he still doesn't have the "spark" we have become accustomed to from him.

"It is too early to draw conclusions now, but we are not pleased. I expected more from the Italian race.

Van der Poel's season continues this week with Gran Piemonte and Il Lombardia before heading to Tirreno Adriatico in September; the Ardennes Classics are also scheduled for October, and his main goals are the Tour de Flanders and Paris-Roubaix later that month

He will also be racing in the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix later that month.