Won and Done? Pogačar’s First San Remo Win May Be His Last

Tadej Pogačar has spent six editions trying to decipher the puzzle of Milan-San Remo, returning season after season in a bid to win La Primavera, and finally succeeded in that goal on Saturday despite a serious setback.

He fell heavily with 33km to go yet, supported physically and mentally by his team, managed to return to the bunch, drop all bar two rivals, then later outsprint Tom Pidcock for an emotional triumph.

It is one of the finest results of his career but, having put so much effort into mastering the race, it appears he may never return.

“Tadej just said to me that that he’s not going to come back now, now that he’s won,” Pidcock revealed after the finish, then quipped: “So what motorbike am I going to have to sit behind?”

The comment will stun many, given the obvious joy that Pogačar felt in finally taking the race. He previously finished 12th, fifth, fourth, third and third and, hampered by climbs that often weren’t quite tough enough to make a difference, some wondered if he ever would succeed.

He came, he saw and he finally conquered and maybe, just maybe, will leave it at that.

But, other than ticking off the box, why else would he not return?

‘It’s really hard to go training to San Remo’

Pogačar is the best rider of his generation and is regarded by some as the greatest of all time. Eddy Merckx was previously given that title and has no less than a staggering seven victories in San Remo to his credit.

Pogačar is quite a different rider, being more of a pure climber, and with the hills of La Primavera being less difficult than those he normally thrives on, it made it a big challenge to shake off his rivals.

Close misses in recent years made the idea of winning the Classic all the more attractive, but also demanded a lot of sacrifices.

“I think finally I can stop going here to San Remo every week or two times per week to train,” Pogačar said, revealing just how many recons he had done.

“It is really hard to go training to San Remo all the winter. But it helped a lot that Florian Vermeersch was with me a few days. We did some nice training with [retired Italian pro] Niccolò Bonifacio. He basically knows this race better than anyone else in the world, I think.

“To have him a little bit as a mentor, he showed in many ways how to race this parcours. I am grateful to find a good group that I can train with and that they showed me all the small things also.”

‘You risk your life’

Pogačar lives in Monaco, around 40km from San Remo, and so it is not as if he had to travel a huge distance to do reconnaissance of the race route. He was able to live at home yet regularly check out the climbs and descents, something which undoubtedly was a factor in his success this year.

But even if proximity was a bonus, there were reasons why he regarded all those training sessions as something of a negative.

“Basically you risk your life a little bit every training you go here,” he said. “No offence, but on Italian roads sometimes the traffic is a little bit criminal.

“But they are making nice bike paths, so maybe in a few years it will be a really nice coast ride.”

It is often said of Milan-San Remo that it is the easiest of the Classics to ride but the hardest to win.

In light of what Pogačar said, that could perhaps be modified to it being the hardest of the Classics to train for, at least psychologically.

“It costs a lot of effort mentally also toward this race,” the Slovenian confirmed. “It is one of the most unpredictable races I ever did. I think it is one of the most unpredictable races in the world.

“It is quite a relief to finally win it. It has been many years training here around. I will miss it.”

That sounds definitive, but we’ll have to wait and see. He did sound like his achievement hasn’t yet sunk in, so that could change his perception of risk versus reward.

“I think it’s definitely one of the biggest wins in my career,” he said. “I need to sleep on it a little bit. I don’t know much what happened in the final, I was all out and in the end to sprint against Tom head to head was also crazy. I was doubtful until the line. Even after the line I didn’t know if I won.

“I still need a bit of moment to realise that we won San Remo.”