Tadej Poga\u010dar might be getting predictable, but he\u2019s never boring.<\/p>\n
And Saturday\u2019s Milan-San Remo will, predictably, see the Slovenian superstar try to blow up the race and finally win the lone monument hard-wired against his explosive style of racing.<\/p>\n
King Pog will line up in Pavia (not Milan), determined to crack the monument that continues to defy him. And if he\u2019s going to do it, the winning move almost certainly must come earlier than the typical MSR playbook.<\/p>\n
We all know what he is going to do. The question is, can anyone stay with him?<\/p>\n
La Classicissima<\/em> has followed the same script for decades.<\/p>\n The peloton barrels down the Ligurian coast for nearly 300km before the race explodes on the Poggio, the short, punchy climb just 5.5km from the finish. The survivors plunge toward San Remo. A reduced group sprints for glory on Via Roma.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a blueprint for cycling\u2019s most unpredictable finale that\u2019s crowned a motley crew of sprinters, punchy classics specialists, and opportunists.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s the exact scenario Poga\u010dar cannot win.<\/p>\n On Saturday, he will try to hit the repeat button on his true best chance: an attack on the Cipressa.<\/p>\n By professional racing standards, the Cipressa hardly rates as a climb. In today\u2019s turbo-charged peloton, it\u2019s a big-ring speed bump.<\/p>\n And for decades, since Gabriele Colombo attacked there to win in 1996, the climb has served mostly as a jostling for position before the real throwdown up and over the Poggio.<\/p>\n Last year, Poga\u010dar defied convention \u2014 like he\u2019s been doing all decade long \u2014 and uncorked a searing attack on the Cipressa that dynamited the race.<\/p>\n It was the kind of trademark, logic-defying move from Pogi that no one had dared in modern San Remo racing. Historically, attacks from that far out never succeed. The distance to the finish is too long, the terrain too fast, and the collective interests of the pack too strong.<\/p>\n Unfortunately for Poga\u010dar, Mathieu van der Poel and Filippo Ganna had the legs to hitch a ride.<\/p>\n The trio worked together to fend off the bunch and set up a historic raid, but Van der Poel had the jet fuel to blunt Poga\u010dar\u2019s punch. Van der Poel ultimately won his second MSR, while Poga\u010dar finished third.<\/p>\n Also read<\/strong>: How to Watch Milan-San Remo 2026 in the USA, Canada, and Worldwide<\/p>\n Now Poga\u010dar is stuck in a trap. Not that he cannot win from a reduced bunch sprint, but he knows if he waits for the Poggio, his chances melt faster than ice in an Italian spritz in summer if riders like Jasper Philipsen or Paul Magnier are still hanging on.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why he tried something different last year.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s why he has no choice but to try again.<\/p>\n This year, Poga\u010dar will count even more on UAE sidekick Isaac del Toro.<\/p>\n The Mexican star is hot off victories at the UAE Tour and Tirreno-Adriatico and could be a key ally. UAE Emirates-XRG\u2019s Jonathan Narv\u00e1ez and Tim Wellens, two riders who helped set him up last year, will not race due to injuries.<\/p>\n Del Toro\u2019s job will be simple: detonate the race before Poga\u010dar uncorks his attack.<\/p>\n This year, the advantage of surprise will be gone. The entire peloton will be bracing and waiting for the Cipressa.<\/p>\n And 2026 could be his best chance to knock down La Primavera<\/em>, and leave Paris-Roubaix as the last target\u00a0to complete the elusive\u00a0monument sweep.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s no secret that Milano-Sanremo is a race I would love to win. I think it suits me well but also suits a lot of the other top guys,\u201d Poga\u010dar said Tuesday. \u201cI see that as a good challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n Poga\u010dar will want to take full advantage this weekend in his sixth crack at MSR against a bruised and battered peloton.<\/p>\n This year\u2019s injury list runs deep. Longtime favorites Mads Pedersen, Michael Matthews, Neilson Powless, and Olav Kooij are all MIA, while others arrive at MSR after a spring campaign marked by crashes, illness, and chaos.<\/p>\n Van der Poel looks like he\u2019s on another planet \u2014 we\u2019ll find out Saturday.<\/p>\n Forecasters are calling for crisp spring racing conditions, with onshore cross-head winds that could make the run from the Cipressa to Via Roma even harder to pull off. We might see an all-in Hail Mary on the Poggio, but that\u2019s not worked in the past.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve done a lot of recons on the Poggio and it\u2019s a climb I know very well,\u201d Poga\u010dar said in a team release. \u201cThe team was exceptional in Strade Bianche and if we can repeat that performance, anything is possible for us. The competition will be high as always but we\u2019re used to that and we\u2019ll do all we can for a result. I hope for a great day of racing and that we can put on a good show for the fans.\u201d<\/p>\n A few riders have surprised with closing-kilometer solo raids at the end of the race, like Fabian Cancellara in 2008 or Vincenzo Nibali in 2018, but that might be even harder for Poga\u010dar to try if Van der Poel is glued to his wheel.<\/p>\n Thankfully, organizers have resisted pressure to alter the course.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why San Remo is so intriguing for Poga\u010dar and so fascinating to watch him try to decipher the winning code.<\/p>\n MSR is the rare anti-Pog race.<\/p>\n Last year proved that even Poga\u010dar\u2019s most violent acceleration is not enough if the wrong riders follow.<\/p>\n If Van der Poel or Ganna are still on his wheel over the Cipressa and onto the Poggio, the odds quickly tilt against him.<\/p>\n That means the equation this weekend remains brutally simple.<\/p>\n To win San Remo and check it off his monument list, Poga\u010dar must do something the race rarely sees \u2014 he must drop everyone.<\/p>\n The Cipressa offers the best chance to make that happen.<\/p>\n The longest monument is often called the easiest to finish, but the hardest to win.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s proving to be true for Poga\u010dar, at least so far.<\/p>\n What else can he do?<\/p>\n To finally conquer San Remo, Poga\u010dar will need to add a new chapter to his growing legend..<\/p>\n He will need to arrive alone.<\/p>\n And a repeat of the Cipressa raid is the most likely scenario.<\/p>\n Assuming he doesn\u2019t decide to attack all along the capi<\/em> with 50km to go, of course.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/tadej-pogacar-milan-san-remo-tactic-win\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/pog2msr.jpg”] Andrew Hood Updated March 17, 2026 06:56AM Tadej Poga\u010dar might be getting predictable, but he\u2019s never boring. And Saturday\u2019s Milan-San Remo will, predictably, see the Slovenian superstar try to blow up the race and finally win the lone monument hard-wired against his explosive style of racing. King Pog will line up in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-1831458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1831458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1831458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1831458\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1831458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1831458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1831458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Breaking San Remo before the Poggio<\/h2>\n
![](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-2206530980-720x480.jpg?width=1920&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")
A new ally: Isaac del Toro<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"Pogacar\"](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/GettyImages-2205553632-720x480.jpg?width=1920&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")
This year or bust<\/b><\/h2>\n
![](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/GettyImages-2089138514-720x480.jpg?width=1920&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")