Milan-San Remo used to be cycling\u2019s biggest and gaudiest casino.<\/p>\n
La Classicissima<\/em> was the everyman\u2019s monument. Whoever survived the Poggio had a chance.<\/p>\n A sprinter with diamonds in their legs or an opportunist with dropper seatpost. A puncheur<\/em> with downhill chops or a monster solo attack on the Via Roma. It was a race with 100 scenarios.<\/p>\n Then Tadej Poga\u010dar showed up and destroyed the odds.<\/p>\n The Slovenian has yet to win San Remo, but the peloton is racing Saturday as if he already has. The bunch is bracing for a radically different race Saturday when only one outcome seems inevitable.<\/p>\n What was once a slow fuse on dynamite that blew up on the Poggio is now the near-impossible task of trying to hold Poga\u010dar\u2019s wheel when he goes nuclear on the Cipressa.<\/p>\n His ambitions are clear.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d rather win Milan-San Remo than a record of six Tours,\u201d he told La Gazzetta dello Sport<\/em>. \u201cBetween zero and one there is a bigger difference than four and five, or five and six.\u201d<\/p>\n La Primavera<\/em> has gone from a race that almost anyone could win to a high-speed roulette between Poga\u010dar and the only rider who can consistently match him, Mathieu van der Poel.<\/p>\n Everyone else is already taking themselves out of the game.<\/p>\n Even the fastest men in the peloton are adjusting expectations against the singular force of Poga\u010dar, whose presence alone is reshaping the race for everyone.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause of the dominance of Tadej, Milan-San Remo has become a slightly different race,\u201d Jasper Philipsen told WielerFlits<\/em>. \u201cThe fact that they can really make the difference already from the Cipressa changes the dynamic of the race.\u201d<\/p>\n Philipsen\u2019s words are remarkable because he won the race two years ago<\/em>. At least he is still showing up, even if he admits how slim his chances are.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is always a chance. Nine times out of 10, it\u2019s a lost day, but you still take the kilometers and experience,\u201d he said. \u201cFor every small chance that exists, you have to go there. San Remo is too important to skip.\u201d<\/p>\n The Cipressa, once an aperitivo<\/em> in a six-hour la dolce vita<\/em> carpet ride, is now a Poga\u010dar launchpad.<\/p>\n Filippo Ganna felt the blast firsthand last year when he had the legs to follow.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t honestly expect Poga\u010dar to openly attack last year. It was intense, but I managed to go with them. It was one of the hardest efforts of my life,\u201d he told La Gazzetta<\/em>. \u201cSecond place hurt, but I was on the podium with Van der Poel and Pogacar.\u201d<\/p>\n Ganna knows if Poga\u010dar gets away solo on the Cipressa, it could be game over.<\/p>\n \u201cIt will be bad news if Poga\u010dar drops van der Poel. We won\u2019t see him again until the finish,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the reality of racing against Poga\u010dar right now.<\/p>\n Just like at Strade Bianche \u2014 where a longer, harder course only favored Poga\u010dar more \u2014 he\u2019s single-handedly reshaping the dynamics of the modern San Remo, a race once defined as the sprinter\u2019s classic.<\/p>\n At the height of his powers, Poga\u010dar is now the singular favorite to win every race he starts.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s true even at Paris-Roubaix, where, but for a botched corner late in the race, he pushed Van der Poel to the limit.<\/p>\n Riders are altering their calendars to avoid him, or at least delay the inevitable.<\/p>\n Jonas Vingegaard is taking on the Giro-Tour double this year, in part because Poga\u010dar is skipping the Italian grand tour. The pair will not face off until July at the Tour de France.<\/p>\n Arnaud De Lie is taking things to another extreme. He\u2019ll be watching Milan-San Remo on TV.<\/p>\n Speaking last month to HLN<\/em>, the Belgian bull said he is not racing San Remo because he knows he has no chance of winning against Poga\u010dar or Van der Poel in the new explosive version of the race.<\/p>\n \u201cI think I\u2019m making the right choice. I have to be realistic: with them on the start line I don\u2019t stand a chance,\u201d he said. \u201cThey ride the Cipressa a minute faster than the rest. Milan\u2013Sanremo is a lost day for me. It\u2019s pointless.\u201d<\/p>\n That jarring admission drew heat, but De Lie only seemed to be saying out loud what just about everyone else is thinking.<\/p>\n Yet Milan-San Remo continues to live up to its reputation as the easiest monument to finish, but the hardest to win.<\/p>\n Peter Sagan never won it, and Philippe Gilbert, the modern rider who came closest to completing the monument sweep, also could not unravel the puzzle.<\/p>\n You get the feeling Poga\u010dar is champing at the bit to check it off his list. Video captured by a fan showed Poga\u010dar motor-pacing down the Italian Riviera, and he\u2019s been taking laps on the Poggio.<\/p>\n Ironically, forecasted brisk head and crosswinds Saturday along the Ligurian coast could spoil a Poga\u010dar party. Or perhaps at least keep things interesting.<\/p>\n The one monument that\u2019s hard-wired against Poga\u010dar is already changing how he and everyone else approach it.<\/p>\n Milan-San Remo used to be the race anyone could win.<\/p>\n Now, it\u2019s another Poga\u010dar demolition derby, with everyone else fighting to hang on.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/milan-san-remo-wide-open-race-now-one-favorite-pogacar\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/horizontalpog.jpg”] Andrew Hood Updated March 20, 2026 10:18AM Milan-San Remo used to be cycling\u2019s biggest and gaudiest casino. La Classicissima was the everyman\u2019s monument. Whoever survived the Poggio had a chance. A sprinter with diamonds in their legs or an opportunist with dropper seatpost. A puncheur with downhill chops or a monster solo […]<\/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-1837490","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\/1837490","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=1837490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1837490\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1837490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1837490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1837490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Changing expectations<\/h2>\n
![\"Philipsen](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-1248523081-720x480.jpg?width=1920&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")
Breaking the frame<\/h2>\n
![](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-2206381353-720x484.jpg?width=1920&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")
Sometimes the house wins<\/h2>\n
![](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-2206382758-720x480.jpg?width=1920&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")