Our team is ready to take on the first Monument of the year.
Saturday brings the season’s longest one-day race, the 289km Milano-Sanremo, a classic where Soudal Quick-Step has triumphed a total of three times with as many different riders: Paolo Bettini (2003), Filippo Pozzato (2006) and Julian Alaphilippe (2019).
The route doesn’t come with any significant changes, which means the action is expected to start as soon as the peloton hits the three capi. From there, they will head to the foot of the Cipressa, where the pace should pick up as some teams will try to drop the sprinters. After cresting the top, only 12 kilometers will separate the bunch from the iconic Poggio, the hill that has become synonymous with the big moves over the years. A 3.6km technical descent follows from there, and another chance to open a gap for those willing to go all-out on those winding roads, before the riders will enter one of cycling’s most emblematic finish locations, the Via Roma.
Soudal Quick-Step will be in Pavia, from where this 116th edition gets underway, with a team comprising Ayco Bastiaens, Mattia Cattaneo, Josef Cerny, Casper Pedersen, Pepijn Reinderink, Maximilian Schachmann, and Martin Svrcek, a medalist at the past two editions of the U23 World Championships. Unfortunately, Paul Magnier will be unable to participate in his first Monument, following his crash in last Sunday’s final stage of Tirreno–Adriatico.
“Milano-Sanremo has one of the most electrifying finishes in all of cycling, a race where everything is possible, as history has shown. We don’t go there with a top favourite, but this doesn’t mean we don’t want to do good, because it’s our mentality to give our best every single time. It’s a balanced team, and at the same time a motivated one, capable of fighting for a nice result, which we hope to get this Saturday”, said sports director Davide Bramati.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
