'Sanremo doesn’t reward the strongest' - Freire on Pogacar’s challenge ahead

Few riders have read the race better. The Spaniard won on Via Roma three times (2004, 2007, 2010) and won it by reading the race better than anyone else. From that angle, Pogačar’s repeated attempts make sense, even if they haven’t quite worked yet.

“Pogačar is the best rider in the world. When someone like him targets a race, of course he can win it. But Sanremo is different. It doesn’t always reward the strongest,” Freire told AS.

That contradiction sits at the heart of the race. Pogačar has tried to impose himself on it, accelerating the Cipressa, stretching the Poggio, even forcing moves on the descent. Each time, the race has absorbed the effort rather than breaking.

Freire does not think the answer is simply to go harder.

“It depends a lot on the wind. If it’s against you, it’s very difficult to make a difference. Everyone talks about going full gas from the bottom of the Cipressa, but maybe the key is the opposite. Start a bit slower, then accelerate. That’s when you can break the group. If you go fast from the start, everyone just follows.”

It is a detail, but Sanremo is built on details. The margins are small, the field remains large for a long time, and positioning often matters more than raw numbers.

“He has tried many ways already. Attacking on the Cipressa, on the Poggio, even in the descent. But it’s very hard to go alone from far out. You also need the right support, and positioning is crucial. Small efforts to move up, corner after corner, they cost you more than you think.”

That’s where it gets complicated. Pogačar can make the race harder, but not always decisive.

“You can lose Sanremo at any moment. There are crashes, nerves, positioning fights. Some years you arrive feeling great and nothing happens. Other times you don’t feel perfect and suddenly you are there in the finale. You don’t really know until the end.”

Even after the finish, the strain lingers. “I remember finishing and thinking I wasn’t tired. Then a few days later, I was completely empty. It was the stress. We all felt it, the riders fighting for the win.”

For all that unpredictability, Freire does not rule Pogačar out. Quite the opposite. His consistency, more than his explosiveness, keeps him in contention. “Van der Poel is incredibly strong and maybe faster, but he can have an off day. Pogačar almost never does. That’s why he always has a chance.”