Having already won Strade Bianche, Tom Pidcock now takes aim at Saturday’s Milan-San Remo, convinced he can go with the expected attacks on the Poggio, use his proven bike skills on the descent to the finish line and thus have a chance of adding a second Classic to his 2023 palmares.
The Ineos Grenadiers rider will take on Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), 2022 winner Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) and a host of sprinters and other Classics riders hoping to win ‘La Primavera’.
It will be the 23-year-old Yorkshireman’s third ride at Milan-San Remo and only his seventh major Classic. Still, Pidcock’s solo victory at Strade Bianche once again highlighted his huge talents and elevated him to the role of Milan-San Remo favourite, something he seems to accept and embrace.
“I’m on great form. Milan-San Remo is certainly a race I want to win at some point but I also know it’s also a really difficult race to win,” he tells Cyclingnews and other media who attended Tirreno-Adriatico, with his typical blunt honesty.
Pidcock will share team Ineos leadership with Filippo Ganna, with vital support from 2017 Milan-San Remo winner Michał Kwiatkowski, who has moved into a support and mentoring role for the young British rider.
“He can step up on the big occasions,” Ineos team manager Rod Ellingworth told Cyclingnews, praising Pidock after his Strade Bianche victory.
“You can see the special riders, they step up like that. Think about the Tour de France last year when he won on L’Alpe d’Huez, the mountain bike race at the Olympics. They’re all big, big moments, so seeing him do that again was impressive.”
Ineos Grenadiers will be hoping Pidcock can win big again at Milan-San Remo. The Italian race is perhaps the Classic least suited to Pidcock’s characteristics but that does not deter him or lessen his love for the race.
“It’s maybe one of the most boring races at first but then it becomes one of the most exciting. You ride 200km to race 100km but that’s also what makes it so beautiful,” he enthuses.
“Milan-San Remo is an honest race. You go (attack) on the Poggio and you know at the top where you are. It also has got incredible history, so it is like the other Monument races.”
One day Pidcock will surely target the general classification at the Tour de France but for now he prefers to enjoy the emotions of one-day races.
“I think there’s something special…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CyclingNews RSS Feed…