'I'm getting closer' - Tadej Pogacar goes again at Milan-Sanremo

Tadej Pogačar attempts to crack the code one more time on Saturday. Milan-Sanremo has stubbornly eluded his grasp over the years, but the Slovenian came closer than ever twelve months ago when he sparked the winning move with a vicious attack on the Cipressa.

Yet while Pogačar’s inevitable attack will again condition this edition of Milan-Sanremo, defending champion Mathieu van der Poel is still arguably the favourite to win on the Via Roma. Such is the beauty of the most subtle Monument of them all.

In an interview for La Gazzetta dello Sport's annual pre-Sanremo supplement, Pogačar had no complaints about falling short on the Riviera in his five attempts thus far.

“Above all, it’s because there have been others better than me,” Pogačar said. “It’s also not a secret that the course isn’t ideally suited to my characteristics. But the progression of my results says that I’m gradually getting closer. When you lose, you always learn something and every season, I’ve learned things and spotted details that will be useful for the future.”

The expectation is that Pogačar and his UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad will again mount an onslaught on the slopes of the Cipressa, but the world champion insisted that nothing was certain in advance. Weather conditions always play a role in this race, and the current forecast is for a headwind on the Cipressa.

“It’s impossible to say in advance because every Sanremo has its own story. Weather, participants, wind, condition, teams – there are too many variables,” Pogačar said. “You can set out from Pavia with a precise plan, but you have to be ready to change it in the race. Sanremo is won on Via Roma, but you can lose it at every metre along the course.”

Pogačar identified Van der Poel and Filippo Ganna, the men who finished ahead of him in 2025, as his chief rivals this year, though he warned that La Primavera still retains a wider slate of challengers than other Classics.

“At Sanremo, unlike Flanders or Roubaix, there are lots of riders who can aspire to winning, including my good friend Jasper Philipsen, who was faster than me in the sprint two years ago,” he said.

Pogačar is aiming to win Milan-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix this year in order to complete a full set of Monument victories, and he confessed that he was more motivated by that feat than by the prospect of eventually winning a record tally of Tours de France.

“Yes, because I always choose the most variety possible,” said Pogačar, who downplayed the idea that his motivation would win if he were to win Sanremo and Roubaix.

“I would more or less think there wasn’t much else left to do – but in reality, there’s always something else. There are many one week races I haven’t won yet, there’s also the Vuelta… There are lots of things to try in different scenarios. The years are going by quickly and there is not much time left to try to win everything.”

Even so, Pogačar rebuffed the idea that he was contemplating retirement after the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, adding that he might even continue beyond the end of his current contract.

“I never thought about retiring in 2028,” he said. “I’ve signed a contract until 2030, but I could go beyond that.”