If you read or watch the cycling press, you will surely know by now that Mathieu van der Poel’s win yesterday in Milan-Sanremo came 62 years after his grandfather did the same thing in 1961.

Raymond Poulidor was virtually an unknown at the time, having had maybe one win as a pro till then (in his defense, he’s not called ‘the eternal second’ for nothing), so his victory – after an attack on the Poggio, like Mathieu – came as a surprise and launched his long and nearly-lustrous career.

As for MVP, I wish I gambled because I had him picked. That was a masterful attack.