UAE believes Pogacar can drop everyone on the Cipressa
Tadej Pogacar once again heads to Milan-Sanremo as one of the race’s main contenders, but the question remains whether the Slovenian can finally crack cycling’s longest Monument. UAE Team Emirates-XRG sports director Fabio Baldato believes the race could once again come down to a direct battle with Mathieu van der Poel.
UAE sports director Fabio Baldato expects a fierce duel between the two stars and admits that beating the Dutchman will be anything but straightforward.
According to Baldato, Pogačar could try to make the decisive move on the Cipressa, the climb that has increasingly become the key moment of Milan-Sanremo in recent years.
“Yes, I believe it is possible,” Baldato said to Sporza when asked whether Pogačar can drop everyone on the Cipressa. “The climb is quite short and the speed is extremely high. You have to go faster than around 35 kilometres per hour. The legs are still relatively fresh because there are not many climbs before it, but it can be done.”
Yet the Italian team manager is equally aware of the obstacle standing in Pogačar's way. “It will not be easy because Mathieu [Van der Poel] is in incredible form,” Baldato said, acknowledging the level Van der Poel has already shown this spring.
Van der Poel himself sees Pogačar as an inevitable future winner of Milan-Sanremo, even if the Slovenian has yet to succeed in the Monument.
“Last year Tadej was already very close,” Van der Poel said to Sporza. “If I am one percent worse, Tadej is gone on the Cipressa. It is only a matter of time before he wins this race.”
Others in the peloton remain slightly more cautious. Former teammate Matteo Trentin believes Pogačar still needs everything to fall perfectly into place to win cycling’s longest Monument. “So far the others have always managed to beat him here,” Trentin said. “The real question is how Pogačar can actually win this race.”
While Pogacar’s explosive climbing remains a potential race breaker, Trentin points to the Dutchman’s recent performances as a warning. “Mathieu dominated the Omloop and was also impressive in Tirreno,” he said. “He will once again be a very hard rider to beat for Pogačar.”
Positioning before the Cipressa will once again be crucial in deciding the outcome. Baldato compares the chaos before the climb to the tension seen before key points in the cobbled classics. “The foot of the Cipressa is like the red flag for the sprinters,” he said. “It is similar to the fight for position before climbs like the Molenberg or the Kwaremont.”
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