Milan-San Remo was once a wide-open race, with a host of contenders from bulky sprinters to Grand Tour climbers.
The list of favourites for the 2026 edition is looking a little narrower after Tadej Pogačar‘s race-upending tactics from 12 months ago.
Whereas the race once boiled down to the question of who could make it over the Poggio, the ticket to the victory lottery on the Via Roma now lies on the rear wheel of Pogačar on the Cipressa.
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Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
Where else to start than with the World Champion? Tadej Pogačar may be yet to crack Milan-San Remo but he has bent the shape of the race, so much so that the 2026 edition essentially revolves around him.
After a couple of years of trying to generally intensify the race, the 2025 edition was a landmark as Pogačar brought the Cipressa, so long dormant as a decisive point of the race, truly into play. Now it’s not a question of whether Pogačar will play his cards and light it up on the Cipressa, but whether he’ll have anyone on his wheel at the top. Two managed it 12 months ago, but Pogačar is another year wiser, and seemingly still getting stronger.
The Tour of Flanders offers something of a clue here. He dominated on his debut in 2022 but was undone at the last, then returned to conquer it the following year. He is clearly similarly hell-bent on winning Milan-San Remo, and there’s an even greater sense of momentum after finishing fifth, fourth, third, and third. We’ve almost become anaesthetised to Pogačar’s history-making, and it almost feels like a solo from the Cipressa to land a fourth of the five Monuments is the next logical step in this story.
There are many factors at play, though. For starters, Pogačar will need his team to be better than the disorganised lead-outs they’ve mustered on the Cipressa in the past two…
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