50 years after taking his record seventh victory at Milan-San Remo, cycling great Eddy Merckx has told Tadej Pogačar to attack away on the Poggio, not the Cipressa, if he wants the best shot at finally reeling in La Classicissima on Saturday.
Speaking in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, Merckx relived his glorious solo win from 1976, and commented on the greats of the modern day, noting how two-time winner Mathieu van der Poel is still the man most likely to deny Pogačar.
Pogačar has raced to the Via Roma five times, with results of 12th, fifth, fourth, third and third, lighting up both the iconic Cipressa and Poggio climbs on several occasions. But he’s always been chased down by the Alpecin-Premier Tech rider or unable to get a big enough gap on the heavier Classics specialists to win solo, with a final sprint not suiting him.
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“Even though he can break away from everyone on the Cipressa – last year only Van der Poel and Ganna were able to stay with him – and he’s capable of long breakaways, but at San Remo, the chances of them catching you are increased,” said Merckx.
Pogačar is also missing some firepower with UAE Team Emirates-XRG super domestiques Tim Wellens and Jhonatan Narváez both out due to injury, with the latter serving as last lead-out on last year’s Cipressa assault.
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