Filippo Ganna hopes fervently: "Pogacar must not drop Van der Poel on the Cipressa"

Filippo Ganna is, alongside Tadej Pogacar and Mathieu van der Poel, the most talked-about man at Milan-San Remo on Saturday. The Italian has already finished second twice in La Primavera and would love to win the race. The INEOS Grenadiers rider is doing everything for that. "It’s not an obsession, but I feel the need to make history," he told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

The Italian has already imagined hundreds of scenarios on how to win Milan-San Remo, but every time he comes to the same conclusion: "There is no perfect scenario at all. San Remo is a puzzle where all the pieces have to fit. There isn’t just one solution, it’s all a big question mark. You need the ability to manage every situation perfectly."

Ganna does know how he can’t win La Primavera, though. "If it ends in a bunch sprint, then I won’t win. I have to anticipate that. And in a small group, well… Last year I could have approached it differently, but to be honest, I wasn’t very sharp after riding above threshold for so many hours."

The Italian also fervently hopes that Pogacar does not break away from Van der Poel on the Cipressa. "For me, that would be bad news. If he drops him, we probably won’t see Tadej again until the finish. Mathieu is one of the few who can keep him in check, or at least calm him down. But nothing is certain; it can play out differently every time. I hope, at least, to have less chasing to do than in 2025."

"My team and I have worked on everything, for sure. We also tried to lose a bit of weight, but that didn’t happen. I will have to be at one hundred percent at the key moments," he finishes.