Tadej Pogačar launches his sprint with 200m to go. Tom Pidcock looks to the right but there’s no room and he moves to the left and almost gets on terms but he’s half a length short as they throw their bikes to the line. After 289km there’s half a wheel it in.
The early breakaway formed quickly, only for the lead vehicles to go off-course, taking the riders into parked traffic. Anecdotal, yes but a copycat move was allowed to go clear moments later which was notable because it showed how it suited everyone.
Like previous editions this was another “Noah’s Ark breakaway” with team mates going in two by two: two each from Movistar, Bardiani, Novo Nordisk and Polti-Malta, plus a lonely Picnic-PostNL rider in Alexey Faure-Prost.
Behind Orluis Aular of Movistar and UAE’s Jan Christen crashed after about 30km, the latter breaking his collarbone. Given UAE were without Tim Wellens and Jhonatan Narvaez because of injury did losing a key rider early give Pogačar thoughts it might not be his day? The gods were out to test him already.
Alpecin-PremierTech’s Silvan Dillier led the chase with 285km to go and the Swiss Stakhanovite was seemingly on the front for the next 200km. Perhaps he looked back one or twice but there were no flicking elbows or other body language despite other teams getting a free ride. His work was solid but he was one against nine riders. The escapees began to gain time and they doubled their lead from three minutes to six on the Via Aurelia coastal road. UAE’s Domen Novak took over with just over 80km left.
Soon teams were riding in train formation to hold their leaders in position. Ineos had a collective crash but Filippo Ganna just avoided the trouble before the Capo Mele.
With the capes cleared, the breakaway was down to four as they passed the fountain in Imperia. Moments later on the way out of Oneglia Pogačar crashed. We’ll put the blame and inquisition aside as nobody seemed to make a grave fault. Pogačar was first to go down, sliding across the road and taking out others like a scythe through grass.
Normally a fall in Sanremo means game over. However if this was a disaster it wasn’t a catastrophe. Pogačar had the good fortune not to be injured and his bike was still rideable, unlike Wout van Aert’s machine. Up in seconds he had team mates ready to lead the chase. Plus if his clothing was ripped leaving his white shorts halfway to a sumo mawashi when viewed from the left he retained enough dignity to continue as the tail of the peloton rode away.
Van der Poel was also caught in the crash but lost less time and was in the first chase group. Pogačar was in the next group behind with Domen Nowak, Felix Großschartner and Florian Vermeersch burning themselves up to chase back through the convoy.
The breakaway was caught at the foot of the Cipressa just as Pogačar made it to the back. Back but a long way back, the TV caption had him at 17 seconds. There was no time to lose and Brandon McNulty led him through the group, the pair passing rivals like they were hobbyists in the Pogi Challenge. In just a kilometre they made it to the front. Suddenly the plan was back on. McNulty used up his last reserves and soon Isaac Del Toro appeared and accelerated hard to stretch out the group.
Pogačar attacked. Pidcock was right on his wheel. One wheel behind Filippo Ganna was in trouble, his head dipping and elbows jutting out like he was pushing an overloaded wheelbarrow as Van der Poel came around him. Mads Pedersen stomped on the pedals to stay in contact but blew in seconds.
In the space of 25 pedal strokes Pogačar was clear with Pidcock and Van der Poel. The rest were left repaying their oxygen debts and by Cipressa church tower the chasers were 25 seconds down.
There were strange moments of calm now. The Cipressa attack as theory was working in practice again and the trio began to collaborate, but the alliance was tentative. The tension rose as Lidl-Trek had numbers and Visma-LAB’s Victor Campenaerts joined in the pursuit and gap fell. The trio started to look back, often the prelude to surrender. The half minute cushion was reduced to a threadbare eight seconds at the foot of the Poggio.
The gap closed further. Excuse the low-fi graphics above but inside the red circle you can just see a speck of white casting shadow on the wall: Pogačar. In the blue circle is the front of the bunch and there’s about six seconds in it here, even less than the TV graphic suggests.
Pogačar rose up and accelerated. Pidcock followed but Van der Poel stayed seated and was now beaten. For a brief moment at least six motos were within 50 metres of the two leaders which helped, but behind who was left to chase? At the top of the Poggio the pair had 15 seconds on the 40 or so peloton with Van der Poel still in between. By the foot of the descent the two had 20 seconds. Pogačar was doing most of the work, Pidcock seemingly all in for the win rather than guaranteeing second place by sharing the work.
Andrea Bagioli did a final pull in the streets of Sanremo for the peloton which helped catch Van der Poel. By now there was almost nobody left to chase. Sensing this Wout van Aert attacked with 1.5km to go and started to close in.
Pidcock flicked his elbow before the flamme rouge and a Pogačar came through to ensure they stayed away and Pidcock sat on. Van Aert was closing in and each time Pogačar glanced back he seemed to check the incoming Belgian more than Pidcock on his wheel.
With 200m to go Pogačar looked over his left shoulder one last time then launched his sprint. Pidcock seemed to point his front wheel right but there was little room by the barriers. He began to get on terms with Pogačar with 50m to go but his front wheel was weaving in a ragged sprint while Pogačar was powering straight and as both lunged it was Pogačar who won by half a wheel.
The Verdict
This time the action came even earlier than the Cipressa with Pogačar’s crash and chase. Milan-Sanremo was this blog’s first pick among the highlights of last season and 2026 topped it, a thriller with added layers of tension and drama.
Milan-Sanremo is famous for the trance-like finish. It may never reach boiling point from the start like a golden Tour stage could, nor even with 100km to go like a vintage Paris-Roubaix. But the intensity of the final 35km was as good as it gets because so much was happening, much of it with the most slender of margins.
Pogačar as the strongest rider on the day and winning may not sound like news. This was different, a frenetic finale. Replay the final kilometre in a simulation and Pidcock could have won and his distant stare on the podium seemed to suggest he knew it. This gave suspense all the way to the line, especially as Pidcock was not sharing the work 50-50 and so might have something left. The 30 second advantage on the Cipressa was reduced to less than ten seconds by the Poggio and Van Aert was just four seconds behind by the finish.
Pogačar’s crash defined the day. Without it maybe he could have gone solo over the Cipressa? However strong that would have been too easy. Philippe Brunel wrote for L’Equipe for 40 years, becoming the lead cycling writer. Having seen Merckx, Hinault et al he often honed his definition of a champion and it someone who can win against the odds, able to turn an unfavourable situation to their advantage and win from it.
Pogačar’s crash wasn’t ruinous in a race where the smallest mishaps and hesitations often define the outcome but his chances did look cooked. Is it his greatest win? That’s subjective, the Zürich Worlds of 2024 was audacious for attacking with 100km to go; he monopolised the 2024 Tour de France; a Liege-Bastogne-Liege win was dedicated to the memorial of Urska Zigart’s mother. Sanremo seemed to mean plenty and despite 110 career wins with five grand tours and now an 11th Monument for once he looked stunned and even tearful.
Many a rider living on the Côte d’Azur has been lured to the Poggio hundreds of times, condemned to climb it like Sisyphus while their dreams up its slopes. Most – think of Peter Sagan, Caleb Ewan or Michael Matthews – try and never win. This is a deliverance for Pogačar who no longer has to go back; even if he was that vindictive there’s no realistic way to overhaul Merckx’s seven wins. This brings a touch of melancholy here for who else is willing to plunge the detonator on the Cipressa next year?
Pro cycling has the habit of asking what a rider can do next. Win, and usually before the finish arch has been dismantled, the triumph is banked and questions tun to “what can you do next?”. A fifth Tour de France awaits and one day there’s the Vuelta and Olympics to collect, goals that no matter how special feel expected. The only question left is whether he can really win Paris-Roubaix?
A fantastic piece on a fantastic race. Thanks, as always, for your insights.
On Pogacar’s future participation, I don’t think you should ever take anything a rider says in the hours after a race at face value, they still have adrenaline coursing through their veins and, in the cold light of day, may regret what they said. However, I hope Pogacar does ride this race in the future as his very presence makes for exciting racing and he has rewritten the playbook on how you win in Sanremo. Received wisdom a few years ago was that attacking on the Cipressa was a fool’s errand, now it is the blueprint for how the non-sprinters can win.
Thank you INRNG. A brilliant report as usual.
My money is on Pogacar winning Paris – Roubaix, against all the odds.
I really hope he doesn’t, but unlike Pogačar’s other races this year, I’m determined to find a way to watch P-R.
WvA seems a legitimate dark horse for the classics this year. Maybe.