Six hours of boredom, then three quarters of an hour of exciting racing. Spring, the classic of all classics, the first cycling monument of the season. With the widest and most diverse set of candidates for victory, among whom Tadej Pogačar is the first favorite on paper.
After a five-hour cycling marathon from Lombardy to a fashionable resort on the shores of the Ligurian Sea, the ninth-place finisher was two minutes ahead of the main group during the course of the day. The escapees, among them four Italians, escaped after just over 10 km, their maximum advantage was 3:30, which means that the main group is firmly in control.
On three successive hills (Capo Mele, Capo Cervo and Capo Berta), the main group closed to a minute, and the runaway nine was reduced to five. The last escapees were caught just at the foot of the climb to Cipresso. Before the first turning point, he found himself in trouble for the second time in the race Jan Tratnikone of Jumbo Visma’s key assistants.
At Cipresso, as last year, the UAE Emirates team took over the reins, which fairly thinned out the main group with a sharp pace. But the last climb, the famous Poggio di Sanremo, was first started by the Bahrain Victorious team, which put the defending champion in an exceptional position.
However, Tim Wellens, as a super assistant, prepared the ground for the attack of Pogačar, who with his jump shook all the rivals except for the star trio: Filippo Ganna, Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel. The Dutchman launched an attack just below the top and, with an advantage of a few seconds, was the first to start the descent. The first pursuer of the foursome was none other than Mohorič.
The 114th edition of the Milan-Sanremo race features five Slovenians: captains Mohorič and Pogačar, his assistant Domen Novak, Jan Tratnik and Luka Mezgec, who has a free hand with the Australian team Jayco AlUla.
114. MILAN-SANREMO, 294 km
Source: Rtvslo
