UAE riders watch wind at Milan-San Remo: "It might still change"

How UAE Emirates XRG will approach Saturday’s Milan-San Remo is becoming increasingly clear. Although Florian Vermeersch is not allowed to reveal the 'tactics,' he does share valuable insights with HLN about his own role and the wind conditions. Every day, Vermeersch checks the wind forecasts for Saturday.

"On Monday, a lot of wind was predicted for Saturday, on Tuesday less wind but with rain, and on Wednesday a southeast wind, which means it will blow diagonally against us in the finale. Rain is not welcome, but if you want to make the race hard, tailwind is ideal because then the riders drafting have less advantage," he says among other things. "Maybe it will still change for the better..."

"We’re going to do everything possible to get Tadej into a good position, and then his legs and our tactics will speak for themselves. I’m not revealing any big secrets when I say that my role in the train is to guide Tadej and the climbers into a good position over the first cap, up to the foot of the Cipressa. After that, it’s up to our climbing train to fly."

Given the selection, it will be Jan Christen and Isaac Del Toro who need to launch Pogacar on the Cipressa. Two different names than last year, when Jhonatan Narvaez and Tim Wellens helped the world champion get going. According to Vermeersch, that’s not necessarily a disadvantage. "In terms of power output, we’re on par with last year’s selection. We don’t need to start with less confidence all of a sudden."

And so Vermeersch ends with a small warning shot. "All I can say is: I’ve trained with Tadej a few times this week and he’s really fired up," he concludes.