The start list includes five previous winners of the race: Philipsen (2024), van der Poel (2023), Matej Mohorič (Bahrain-Victorious, 2022), Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek, 2021) and Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro, 2019). But one name is conspicuous by its absence from that list of previous winners: Pogačar.
The rider who has won just about everything else there is to win in the sport has failed in four tries to win this longest of all Monuments (289 km). He finished twelfth in 2020, fifth in 2022, fourth in 2023 and third last year. In 2024, he was outsprinted by both Philipsen and Michael Mathews (Jayco AlUla), who will also be at the starting line come Saturday. Both are bona fide sprinters with more of a turn of foot than the Slovenian.
The reason that the race has been such a bear for the world champion and the best one-day rider in the world is that it is too easy. Yes, Milano-Sanremo is one of the most difficult Classics to win, precisely because it isn’t difficult enough to keep a large group of good riders from having a shot at victory. The climbs are simply not hard enough for a rider to drop all of his opponents, so it is usually a question of fatigue, luck or tactics. Zobrazit příspěvek na Instagramu Příspěvek sdílený Milano Sanremo (@milanosanremo_) In 2024, no fewer than 12 riders contested the final sprint. In 2022, eight riders were there at the finish. In 2023, van der Poel burst out of […]
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