This will be Wout van Aert's sixth Milan-San Remo, a Monument Classic in which he achieved one victory in 2020 and two third-place finishes in 2021 and 2023. At his last San Remo appearance, he finished on the podium behind Mathieu van der Poel and Filippo Ganna, but he has not participated in the spring Classicissima since then. This year we will have the pleasure of seeing the Flemish rider again, and his intention is to stay with the best to try to win. It will be a ruthless race as always, and the winner will only be decided in the final kilometers, when the strongest will resist attacks on the Poggio. A sprint finish cannot be ruled out, but in recent years, at most we have seen a sprint involving just a few riders.

Team Visma | Lease a Bike will not be able to count on a rider like Matthew Brennan, and for this reason Wout van Aert will be the sole leader of the Dutch team. The Belgian is in excellent form and knows what it means to win at San Remo, and this year at the spring Classicissima he has returned to achieve the highest result. "I skipped Milan-San Remo for a few years, but I absolutely wanted to start again here, because it is one of the most beautiful races on the cycling calendar. I really enjoyed watching last year's edition, and watching it gave me extra motivation to be at the start of this Monument Classic again".

Van Aert has had difficult periods in recent years, marked by serious injuries that have forced him to stay off the bike or cancel prestigious appointments. For him, returning to San Remo is important and he also considers it a test to measure himself against other champions.

In recent weeks he has shown his form at Strade Bianche and Tirreno-Adriatico, where he further improved his condition. "Overall, I'm satisfied with how I felt during these races. I had a good week at Tirreno-Adriatico, where I was able to test myself multiple times. I've done everything possible to be ready. This is the beginning of an important period with many high-level Classics. I hope to be competitive in every race. I'm not starting as the favorite, but my goal is to win the race. I absolutely believe in my chances. Milan-San Remo is a race where there are always many different scenarios".

Yesterday afternoon at the team presentation, Van Aert was among those riders who can boast of having at least one Milan-San Remo in their palmares. "I've recovered well from Tirreno-Adriatico and everything has also gone well during training this week. So I certainly can't complain. I can do it even if the race presents different scenarios. Ideally, I could follow the two favorites and they would watch each other – continued the Flemish rider, referring to Van der Poel and Pogacar - A headwind could work against some. But for us mere mortals this could be an advantage, because it would be harder to create significant gaps". San Remo is the first Monument Classic of the year and precisely for this reason it is extremely coveted. "Of course, getting a victory early in the season is already important, but winning the first Monument Classic of the year allows you to be happy for the entire season".