It will be a stellar lineup with which the UAE Team Emirates-XRG will try to hit the big target at the Milan-Sanremo on Saturday. At the start of the Classicissima, in fact, the Emirati team will field alongside the World Champion and designated leader Tadej Pogacar the recent winner of the Tirreno-Adriatico Isaac Del Toro, an increasingly promising talent like Jan Christen, a solid classics rider like Florian Vermeersch, two riders capable of handling any type of climb like Felix Großschartner and Brandon McNulty, and an appreciated workhorse like Domen Novak.
The objective for these six men will clearly be, having no pure sprinter in their ranks, to make the race hard and selective, thus facilitating the task of a Pogacar who, between the Cipressa and the Poggio (which he has practiced more and more in recent months), will try to leave the competition behind and fly solo towards the finish line on Via Roma.
If such a scenario were to materialize, the Slovenian would break the taboo of victory at the Classicissima on his fifth attempt (a race where to date, in four participations, he has achieved a twelfth, a fifth, a fourth and a third place), moving closer to the prestigious milestone of winning all five Monument classics in his career with only Paris-Roubaix remaining on the agenda.
"It's no secret that Milan-Sanremo is a race I would like to win. I think it has a course suited to me, but also to many other top riders. I see it as a nice challenge" declared the native of Klanec, who has been victorious only once this year (at the Strade Bianche which he won), through the team's official channels.
"I have done many reconnaissance runs on the Poggio and it is a climb I know very well. The team was exceptional at the Strade Bianche and if we can repeat that performance, everything is possible for us. The competition will be fierce as always, but we are used to it and will do everything possible to achieve a good result. I hope it will be a great race day and that we will be able to put on a good show for the fans" stated the reigning double world champion, ready to give his all, with the support of his teammates, in the final kilometers of a race that this year too promises to be extremely thrilling.