{"id":24737,"date":"2026-03-19T20:13:05","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T11:13:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/?p=24737"},"modified":"2026-03-19T20:13:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T11:13:08","slug":"milan-san-remo-is-a-comin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/2026\/03\/19\/milan-san-remo-is-a-comin\/","title":{"rendered":"MILAN-SAN REMO IS A-COMIN’!"},"content":{"rendered":"

This beast of a race,  on this Saturday March 21st, always delivers unpredictability, but a few clear favourites stand out this year – well, ok, let\u2019s be honest, TWO stand out! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And may I just say I do love this race – it’s a massive brutal smack in the gob of a race, just so violent and demanding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gorgeous! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mathieu van der Poel returns as top pick – surprise surprise – perfectly suited to the Poggio\u2019s explosive demands, and he has won it in 2023 and 2025 – last year you will remember he won a brilliant sprint against Filippo Ganna and Pogacar. He has already spoken about this year\u2019s race and it was clear that Pogacar is the rider he will be watching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Eddy Merckx spoke on Pogo\u2019s chance at Milan-San Remo and said he may be tempted to go before the almost always decisive Cipressa climb – just 25km from the finish line. Poga\u010dar may be thinking of going from 50, 60 or 70km out \u2014 he\u2019s said before, \u201cI have to try from far, otherwise it\u2019s too easy for the sprinters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wout Van Aert might have a magical ay and be in the sprint at the end but he still looks a few percent off his very best. Tom Pidcock may be a threat after his win mid-week at Milano-Torino, but he sounded after that race a little disheartened already about Milan-San Remo, mindful of the power that VDP and Pogacar have and where they will likely attack from: “We know\u00a0what’s\u00a0going to happen\u00a0on the Cipressa, don’t\u00a0we? But\u00a0we\u00a0will do our best.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As always, positioning and timing will decide everything. As the old saying goes: \u201cMilan\u2013San Remo isn\u2019t always won by the strongest, but by the smartest.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ah I love this race, even though it should be boring really – but so much goes on if you can watch from the off, and yeah – big, brutal, blood – and bloody great! <\/p>","protected":false},"author":40955418,"featured_media":24742,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","wpupg_custom_link":[],"wpupg_custom_link_behaviour":[],"wpupg_custom_link_nofollow":[],"wpupg_custom_image":[],"wpupg_custom_image_id":[],"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6720],"tags":[767233538,767234099,172437163,54018444,74634611,23797641],"class_list":["post-24737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-classics","tag-classics","tag-milan-san-remo-2","tag-minument","tag-pidcock","tag-pogacar","tag-van-der-poel"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t