Milan-San Remo has remained a vital ambition of Tadej Pogačar‘s, likely ever since he realised he could, in theory, win it ahead of the Classics specialists and sprinters if everything were to go perfectly across the 300km of racing.
The nature of the route, which comes fully to life in the final 30km on the Cipressa (5.6km at 4.1%) and Poggio (3.7km at 3.1%) climbs, and really lacks elevation gain for much of the opening 240km outside of the Passo del Turchino, has always made it a challenge for the four-time Tour de France winner to make a difference.
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Taking a look back through Pogačar’s latest four previous appearances at Milan-San Remo – without his 2020 debut, which ended in 12th in a chasing group sprint – it’s important to note where UAE missed the mark and how they can try to right those minor mistakes in this latest attempt.
Pogačar’s failed attempts at Milan-San Remo
2022
Pogačar arrived at Milan-San Remo 2022 off the back of his best season yet, having successfully defended his Tour de France crown and won his first two Monuments at Il Lombardia and Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2021.
Ready to take on the race, it was indeed his UAE team who would try to move it away from the ‘sprinter’s Monument’, and that started, of course, at the Cipressa.
They didn’t lead into the base of the iconic ascent, which became a common trend in subsequent years, with Bahrain-Victorious and then…
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