SAN REMO, Italy (AP) — Even with a new tactic, Tadej Pogacar still couldn’t win the Milan-San Remo.
Pogacar attacked earlier than usual — on the penultimate Cipressa climb — but Mathieu van der Poel followed the Slovenian standout every step of the way and eventually won a three-man sprint Saturday that also included Filippo Ganna.
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Mathieu van der Poel hugs a woman after winning the men's elite race of the Milano-Sanremo one day cycling race (289 km) from Pavia, in Sanremo, Italy, Saturday March 22, 2025. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)
Mathieu van der Poel reacts as he crosses the finish line in first place, with Filippo Ganna on second place, centre, and Tadej Pogacar, right, on third place of the men's elite race of the Milano-Sanremo one day cycling race (289 km) from Pavia, in Sanremo, Italy, Saturday March 22, 2025. (Gian Mattia D'Alberto/LaPresse via AP)
Lorena Wiebes celebrates as he cycles to the finish line to win the women's elite race of the Sanremo Women, one day cycling race from Genova to Sanremo (156km), in Sanremo, Italy, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)
Lorena Wiebes celebrates as he cycles to the finish line to win the women's elite race of the Sanremo Women, one day cycling race from Genova to Sanremo (156km), in Sanremo, Italy, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)
Tadej Pogacar leads, with Mathieu van der Poel on the second position, during the men's elite race of the Milano-Sanremo one day cycling race (289 km) from Pavia, in Sanremo, Italy, Saturday March 22, 2025. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)
Tadej Pogacar, front, looks at Mathieu van der Poel as they fight for the first position of the men's elite race of the Milano-Sanremo one day cycling race (289 km) from Pavia, in Sanremo, Italy, Saturday March 22, 2025. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP)
Mathieu van der Poel reacts as he crosses the finish line in first place, with Filippo Ganna on second place, centre, and Tadej Pogacar, right, on third place of the men's elite race of the Milano-Sanremo one day cycling race (289 km) from Pavia, in Sanremo, Italy, Saturday March 22, 2025. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)
“He tried everything he could,” Van der Poel said of Pogacar, the reigning world, Tour de France and Giro d’Italia champion. “He (made) the decisive move on Cipressa. I think everyone knows how impressive this is. He was maybe the strongest uphill but I felt I had control on the wheel.”
It was Van der Poel’s second Milan-San Remo victory after the Dutch rider also took the season’s first “Monument” race two years ago. Van der Poel’s maternal grandfather, French cyclist Raymond Poulidor, also won the Milan-San Remo in 1961. He died in 2019.
Having tried unsuccessfully previously to swing into action on the Poggio climb shortly before the finish, Pogacar this time made his first attack midway up the Cipressa with 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) to go in the 289-kilometer (180-mile) race, which started in Pavia this year.
Van der Poel and Ganna were the only riders capable of sticking with Pogacar and the three studied each other on the finishing straight before Van der Poel made the first move — which proved decisive.
Ganna finished second and Pogacar settled for third.
“I felt pretty strong,” Van der Poel said. “I felt that I still had a good sprint in the legs and I knew that the other two wanted to make it a long sprint, because I’m known for the shorter sprints. So I think I surprised them a bit by launching my sprint at the 300-meter sign. But I felt strong enough to hold it.”
Added Pogacar: “They were just too fast for me and there was nothing I could do.”
Michael Matthews won the sprint for fourth, crossing 43 seconds behind.
“It was an edition to remember,” Van der Poel said. “I don’t remember when the decisive move was on the Cipressa but it was surely a long time ago. It was special with just the three of us at the finish."
Pogacar and Van der Poel shattered the Cipressa climbing record of 9 minutes, 16 seconds, set in 1996 when Gabriele Colombo launched his attack there and went on to a solo victory.
It was the seventh Monument win for Van der Poel, who has also won the Tour of Flanders three times and Paris-Roubaix twice.
The other Monuments are Leige-Bastogne-Liege and Giro di Lombardia — races that Pogacar has won multiple times.
European champion Lorena Wiebes beat standout Marianne Vos in a sprint finish to win the women’s race, which returned after 20 years.
Swiss rider Noemi Ruegg crossed third.
Wiebes was helped by a leadout from teammate Lotte Kopecky, the world champion.
The women’s race followed a 156-kilometer (97-mile) route from Genoa to San Remo.
AP cycling: https://apnews.com/hub/cycling
Mathieu van der Poel hugs a woman after winning the men's elite race of the Milano-Sanremo one day cycling race (289 km) from Pavia, in Sanremo, Italy, Saturday March 22, 2025. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)
Mathieu van der Poel reacts as he crosses the finish line in first place, with Filippo Ganna on second place, centre, and Tadej Pogacar, right, on third place of the men's elite race of the Milano-Sanremo one day cycling race (289 km) from Pavia, in Sanremo, Italy, Saturday March 22, 2025. (Gian Mattia D'Alberto/LaPresse via AP)
Lorena Wiebes celebrates as he cycles to the finish line to win the women's elite race of the Sanremo Women, one day cycling race from Genova to Sanremo (156km), in Sanremo, Italy, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)
Lorena Wiebes celebrates as he cycles to the finish line to win the women's elite race of the Sanremo Women, one day cycling race from Genova to Sanremo (156km), in Sanremo, Italy, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)
Tadej Pogacar leads, with Mathieu van der Poel on the second position, during the men's elite race of the Milano-Sanremo one day cycling race (289 km) from Pavia, in Sanremo, Italy, Saturday March 22, 2025. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)
Tadej Pogacar, front, looks at Mathieu van der Poel as they fight for the first position of the men's elite race of the Milano-Sanremo one day cycling race (289 km) from Pavia, in Sanremo, Italy, Saturday March 22, 2025. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP)
Mathieu van der Poel reacts as he crosses the finish line in first place, with Filippo Ganna on second place, centre, and Tadej Pogacar, right, on third place of the men's elite race of the Milano-Sanremo one day cycling race (289 km) from Pavia, in Sanremo, Italy, Saturday March 22, 2025. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal agents carrying out immigration arrests in Minnesota's Twin Cities region already shaken by the fatal shooting of a woman rammed the door of one home Sunday and pushed their way inside, part of what the Department of Homeland Security has called its largest enforcement operation ever.
In a dramatic scene similar to those playing out across Minneapolis, agents captured a man in the home just minutes after pepper spraying protesters outside who had confronted the heavily armed federal agents. Along the residential street, protesters honked car horns, banged on drums and blew whistles in attempts to disrupt the operation.
Video of the clash taken by The Associated Press showed some agents pushing back protesters while a distraught woman later emerged from the house with a document that federal agents presented to arrest the man. Signed by an immigration officer, the document — unlike a warrant signed by a judge — does not authorize forced entry into a private residence. A warrant signed by an immigration officer only authorizes arrest in a public area.
Immigrant advocacy groups have conducted extensive “know-your-rights” campaigns urging people not to open their doors unless agents have a court order signed by a judge.
But within minutes of ramming the door in a neighborhood filled with single-family homes, the handcuffed man was led away.
More than 2,000 immigration arrests have been made in Minnesota since the enforcement operation began at the beginning of December, said Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News on Sunday that the administration would send additional federal agents to Minnesota to protect immigration officers and continue enforcement.
The Twin Cities — the latest target in President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement campaign — is bracing for what is next after 37-year-old Renee Good was shot and killed by an immigration officer on Wednesday.
“We’re seeing a lot of immigration enforcement across Minneapolis and across the state, federal agents just swarming around our neighborhoods,” said Jason Chavez, a Minneapolis city councilmember. “They’ve definitely been out here.”
Chavez, the son of Mexican immigrants who represents an area with a growing immigrant population, said he is closely monitoring information from chat groups about where residents are seeing agents operating.
People holding whistles positioned themselves in freezing temperatures on street corners Sunday in the neighborhood where Good was killed, watching for any signs of federal agents.
More than 20,000 people have taken part in a variety of trainings to become “observers” of enforcement activities in Minnesota since the 2024 election, said Luis Argueta, a spokesperson for Unidos MN, a local human rights organization .
“It’s a role that people choose to take on voluntarily, because they choose to look out for their neighbors,” Argueta said.
The protests have been largely peaceful, but residents remained anxious. On Monday, Minneapolis public schools will start offering remote learning for the next month in response to concerns that children might feel unsafe venturing out while tensions remain high.
Many schools closed last week after Good’s shooting and the upheaval that followed.
While the enforcement activity continues, two of the state’s leading Democrats said that the investigation into Good's shooting death should not be overseen solely by the federal government.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and U.S. Sen. Tina Smith said in separate interviews Sunday that state authorities should be included in the investigation because the federal government has already made clear what it believes happened.
“How can we trust the federal government to do an objective, unbiased investigation, without prejudice, when at the beginning of that investigation they have already announced exactly what they saw — what they think happened," Smith said on ABC’s "This Week."
The Trump administration has defended the officer who shot Good in her car, saying he was protecting himself and fellow agents and that Good had “weaponized” her vehicle.
Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, defended the officer on Fox News Channel’s “The Sunday Briefing.”
"That law enforcement officer had milliseconds, if not short time to make a decision to save his life and his other fellow agents,” he said.
Lyons also said the administration’s enforcement operations in Minnesota wouldn't be needed “if local jurisdictions worked with us to turn over these criminally illegal aliens once they are already considered a public safety threat by the locals.”
The killing of Good by an ICE officer and the shooting of two people by federal agents in Portland, Oregon, led to dozens of protests in cities across the country over the weekend, including New York, Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and Oakland, California.
Contributing were Associated Press journalists Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis; Thomas Strong in Washington; Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Christopher Weber in Los Angeles; and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio.
A woman gets into an altercation with a federal immigration officer as officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A federal immigration officer deploys pepper spray as officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A family member, center, reacts after federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Bystanders are treated after being pepper sprayed as federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A family member reacts after federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Federal agents look on after detaining a person during a patrol in Minneapolis, Minn., Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
Bystanders react after a man was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a traffic stop, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Robbinsdale, Minn. (AP Photo/John Locher)
People stand near a memorial at the site where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
A man looks out of a car window after being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a traffic stop, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Robbinsdale, Minn. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Border Patrol agents detain a man, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
People shout toward Border Patrol agents making an arrest, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Demonstrators protest outside the White House in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey holds a news conference on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
Protesters react as they visit a makeshift memorial during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
