"I'm so glad I made it out alive"
Good morning,
These are today's quotes and interviews worth your time.
Stood out to me today: "I had so much lactic acid in my body that I could not open my hands."
¡Vamos!
🎤 INTERESTING INTERVIEWS
"He was like a kid with brand new toys."
Juan Pedro López on Cian Uijtdebroeks, Enric Mas, and his move to Movistar Team
Juan Pedro López spent seven seasons at Lidl-Trek before signing with Movistar Team through 2027. He spoke to Marca ahead of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya.
On his new team, the contrast with his previous setup is something he chooses his words around carefully. "The word 'relaxed' wouldn't be quite right, because it could be misunderstood. Lidl-Trek is a very big structure, with a lot of people working; here, everything feels closer. That makes you feel more at home, and lets you be more at ease."
Last Saturday, at the Clásica Terres de l'Ebre, he almost made his mark straight away. "When I come down from altitude, I always have the doubt about performing like a diesel engine, without that punch in efforts of two or three minutes. The initial plan wasn't to attack from far out, but seeing how the race was developing, I decided to go all-in. I got so close I could nearly taste it with three or four kilometers to go."
At Movistar Team, he goes into Catalunya as a support rider for two leaders. "We have Cian Uijtdebroeks and Enric Mas, so the goal is to help them as much as possible." He's measured about both. On Mas: "The most important thing isn't just feeling good on the bike, but regaining the confidence to perform at his best."
On Uijtdebroeks, whose first training camp with the team clearly left an impression: "In the first training camp he was very happy, like a kid with brand new toys. I think that can give him an extra boost."
On Tadej Pogačar, his assessment is blunter: "He's unbeatable. We saw it in San Remo: he crashes, isn't hurt, loses 20 seconds on the front of the race, and still manages to come back, get to the front, and attack. He's a gifted athlete who can play with his rivals however he wants."
"The crash perhaps even gave him that extra adrenaline to break the record for the Cipressa."
Niccolò Bonifazio on coaching Tadej Pogačar through the secrets of the race
Behind Tadej Pogačar's win at Milano-Sanremo was a quiet piece of preparation: months of work with Niccolò Bonifazio, a former Italian professional who grew up 45 kilometers from the finish line and has climbed and descended the Cipressa roughly 4,000 times. Bonifazio retired in 2024 after an 11-year career that included a fifth-place finish in the 2015 edition and a famous descent attack in 2019. He spoke to CyclingNews on Monday.
Bonifazio is modest about his role, but precise about what he actually taught. "The modern-day aero bikes are faster than ever, but you've got to know how to use that extra speed. Last year, Tadej suffered when chasing Mathieu van der Poel on the descent of the Poggio. This year, he was able to turn the tables and even make Tom Pidcock suffer. He went full gas in the corners and the straight sectors, forcing Pidcock to go deep and keep his heart rate high, even on the descent."
The crash, too, he reframes entirely. "When he crashed, I wanted to see if he had hurt himself. I saw that he got up quickly and noticed he didn't panic. That's rare in a rider, too, but it was clear he was still focused. Then he used the extra adrenaline on the Cipressa to move up and then attack. The crash perhaps even gave him that extra adrenaline to break the record for the Cipressa, so there's a positive side to every moment of pain or fear."
The result, in Bonifazio's telling, came down to accumulation. "I helped Tadej to be confident on descents. Now he's able to descend fast but stay in his own comfort zone, without being scared of crashing. Both Van der Poel on the Cipressa and then Pidcock on the Poggio descent were hurting trying to stay with Tadej. That gave Tadej an advantage, and then he won the sprint by half a wheel. Every detail counts at Milan-San Remo."
Pogačar, post-race, put it simply: "He basically knows this race better than anyone else in the world. To have him as a mentor was special."
"Asking whether such total domination is plausible is not scandalous. It's the bare minimum."
On Instagram, Erwann Menthéour posted an open letter directed at Pogačar's dominance.
Menthéour is a former La Française des Jeux rider who publicly admitted to doping during his career. He posted an open letter on Instagram: "Honestly, I'm stunned. I watch Pogačar race, win, chain races together, crush the field, recover, start again, and I can't bring myself to swallow the wonderful narrative we're being served. A rider who almost never drops off, who goes through seasons with an insolent consistency, who seems able to do everything, everywhere, all the time, should be prompting more than automatic applause."
He frames his skepticism not as an accusation, but as a standard he believes the sport requires: "Cycling has too dirty a past for us to simply stand there wide-eyed like children. This sport has lied, cheated, concealed, destroyed reputations, bodies, and entire generations of riders. So no, asking whether such total domination is plausible is not scandalous. It's the bare minimum."
And then the harder line: "I'm not asserting what I cannot prove. I'm simply saying that at this level of superiority, of crushing and furious domination, doubt is not cynicism. It's mental hygiene. A performance can be immense. It can also be too perfect to be received naively."
"Fun is king here and that doesn't stop you from being professional and ambitious."
Marcel Kittel on his new role as sprint director at Unibet Rose Rockets
Marcel Kittel retired at 31 in 2019. Seven years later he is back in the peloton, not as a rider but as sprint director at Unibet Rose Rockets, coaching Dylan Groenewegen and working to rebuild what he described as a genuine team culture. He spoke at length to Le Gruppetto.
The transition came naturally, he says, because the analytical work was already something he did as a rider. "My mission is to build, with the forces we have, a lead-out train capable of putting our sprinters in the best conditions consistently. It's a big challenge to pass on my experience without imposing my own way of sprinting."
What drew him to this team specifically was its culture: "I feel free, without restriction. Fun is king here and that doesn't stop you from being professional and ambitious. That's what I was already looking for as a rider." Before touching tactics, he started with the people. "I wanted to understand the factors that influenced their wellbeing, their personal goals, and how to align those with the team's."
On the question of whether sprints can be reduced to data and marginal gains, Kittel pushes back. "It's not an exact science: it's raw power meeting confidence, instinct, and reading the movements of teammates and opponents. Today we talk a lot about bike aerodynamics, rider positioning, nutrition... sure, all of that develops physical performance, but take Jonathan Milan: he's not the most aerodynamic morphologically, and yet he keeps winning."
The early season results back up his approach: three wins for Groenewegen, consistent podiums. "I'm very happy with the first eight weeks. We mustn't forget where we came from, we're a team in development. Our ambitions are high, and everyone is involved. Right now, you can't ask for more."
After missing out on the Tour de France, the team received an invitation to the Giro d'Italia. "We need to focus on our current situation, on the races coming up. We also have objectives in the classics. That said, the Giro will be a great opportunity to show where we are."
And the daily work? "The secret is turning every failed sprint into a lesson for the next one. We compare our initial plan to what actually happened, we look at the context of each decision and its consequences. That's how you improve."
🏆 THE SERGE BAGUET AWARD
Not awarded today
Wonder what The Serge Baguet Award is all about? Check it out here.
💬 QUICK QUOTES
"I think also, if I'd won, it would have been like... I'd never been on the podium there and then I win, it's a bit of a fluke, but now I prove I'm strong enough to challenge for the win. So hopefully, in the future, if I can win, it's more deserved if you like." — Tom Pidcock, reflecting on his Milano-Sanremo result in the Cycling Pro Net podcast.
"I've trained here so many times, and every time you risk your life because, without wanting to offend anyone, the traffic on the Italian roads is sometimes a bit criminal. They're building some beautiful cycling paths, and maybe in a few years there'll be a wonderful coastal road too, but it takes a lot of effort." — Tadej Pogačar, on why he's glad he won't have to return for training on the roads around Milano-Sanremo, as he told CyclingNews.
"When I saw him riding around, it was a different Wout than the one I raced against last year. Back then he won fantastic stages at the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France, but there was still a difference compared to the rider I saw at Milano-Sanremo. It looked much sharper, there was so much more form radiating off him. Last year it sometimes looked more like hard work." — Victor Campenaerts on Wout van Aert, as he told WielerFlits.
"For three years it's been the same finish, along the coast. I know it quite well. And when I ride past here on training this stage is always on my mind. I knew that one day I would win here." — Dorian Godon after taking the first stage of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, as he told Cyclism'Actu TV.
"It's a bit like the Tour de France for climbers, without Tadej Pogačar." — Cian Uijtdebroeks on the start-studded field at the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, as he told Sporza.
"It's sometimes up to me, how do I put it, to bang my fist on the table and say that I'm still here." — Lotte Kopecky explaining why she stepped forward as team leader at Milano-Sanremo, as she told Sporza.
"For the first time in 10+ years I won't be doing any spring classics. Definitely gutted, but also quite impressed that I have made such a long stint in our sport where crashes and sickness are always part of the game." — Toms Skujiņš, who fell ill during the brutal wet stage 4 of Paris-Nice and has barely trained since, as he posted on Instagram.
"If Van der Poel should be worried at all, many others would be better off just not starting. As far as I'm concerned, Van der Poel remains more of a favorite than Pogačar in the Tour of Flanders, and Pogačar is his main challenger in that race. That hasn't changed for me after Sanremo." — Jan Bakelants, former pro and analyst, pushing back on claims that Mathieu van der Poel has no answer for Pogačar in Flanders, as he told HLN.
"I was very lucky that I managed to win that last Tour of Flanders, the first on the new course, against men who were roughly my build. But I think it would now be incredibly difficult for someone like me to win the Tour of Flanders. I think it is almost impossible. So I really should count my blessings." — Tom Boonen on the Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.
"Isaac del Toro has been added to the start list." — Jacques Coussens, E3 Saxo Classic organizer, announcing the surprising participation of Isaac del Toro, as quoted by WielerFlits.
"At the moment his injuries appear manageable and his participation on Wednesday at the Ronde Van Brugge - Tour of Bruges is not in danger." — Alpecin-Premier Tech, confirming Jonas Rickaert sustained a fractured tailbone, a shoulder injury, and post-traumatic headaches after his crash on Sunday at the GP Jean-Pierre Monseré, yet will race again tomorrow, as reported by In de Leiderstrui.
"I'm so glad I'm not racing anymore, and that I made it out alive." — Grace Brown, former time trial world and Olympic champion, on the horrific crash on the Cipressa descent during the Milano-Sanremo Donne, as she said on the SBS Cycling Podcast.
"I cross the finish line and I want to take my hands off the bars and my fingers are just cramped onto the handlebars. I had so much lactic acid in my body that I could not open my hands. I got to the soigneur like that and I had to literally prise my fingers open for about a minute." — Tom Boonen, sharing what happened inside his body at the moment he won the 2012 Ronde van Vlaanderen, on the Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.
That's it for today. See you tomorrow 👋
Jay