No miracle for Gilbert on Milan-Sanremo: “I was struggling to breathe”
This time it’s over. Philippe Gilbert will never win Milan-Sanremo, the only monument missing from his rich record. Unless he changes his mind and decides to leave for an additional season in 2023, but the Ardennes should not reconsider his decision. Not at best, the former world champion finished far from Matej Mohoric, more than eleven minutes, in 144th place. But he made a point of going after his last Primavera.
“I have suffered from a kind of bronchitis in recent days, a bit like a large part of the peloton that came out of Paris-Nice”he explains in a very cluttered voice. “I was far in the effort, I was struggling to breathe, it was very hard, especially since it was a fast edition. I tried to do my best in these conditions.”
He therefore turns the page on his quest for the five monuments. “This goal allowed me to keep a lot of motivation during all these years, to continue to give everything, in training, even if it didn’t work out”finished the rider from Lotto-Soudal, who hopes to recover as soon as possible in order to arrive in better condition on the Ardennes classics, where he hopes to have fun. “But I remain satisfied with what I achieved.”