"Nine out of ten times it's a lost cause"

Good morning,

These are today's quotes and interviews worth your time.

Stood out to me today: "They could use Del Toro to attack in turns. But the risk is too high that Del Toro wins, and UAE isn't going for a team win, but to win with Pogačar."

¡Vamos!

🎤 INTERESTING INTERVIEWS

“Most riders are essentially being led to the slaughter on the Cipressa”

Tom Dumoulin on the only thing outsiders can do at Milano-Sanremo

The scenario is already written. Speaking on the NOS Wielerpodcast, Tom Dumoulin laid out exactly why names like Van Aert, Stuyven, and Pidcock have almost no room to manoeuvre because of the expected scenario.

"Most riders are essentially being led to the slaughter on the Cipressa. You have no other option. You can't attack on the Capi and get ahead of Pogačar's attack. You're never going to ride away a long time in advance, the racing there is already brutally hard. You'd have to make your ultimate effort on the Capo Berta to have 15 seconds. And then you'd just get caught on the flat section towards the Cipressa."

So the outsiders wait. They arrive at the Cipressa and hope. "Then you have to hope that you're not too far behind at the top, that you have great legs, maybe you can come back because Pogačar and Van der Poel are watching each other, and that the scenario can be rewritten on the Poggio. That is what you have to hope for if you're Wout van Aert, Jasper Stuyven, take your pick."

“I think you have to go for every minuscule chance there is”

Jasper Philipsen on his chances and what has changed at La Primavera

Jasper Philipsen won Nokere Koerse on Wednesday, his first win of the season, and spoke to WielerFlits about what it meant and what it changes heading into Saturday.

The wait for his first victory had affected how he raced. "It changed my race behavior a bit. Other years I rode with an open visor, because the course with the cobbles and short rises lends itself to that. This time I went for the safety of my sprint in Nokere and rode more defensively. Also because I wasn't that fresh after Tirreno Adriatico."

On Milano-San Remo, he was direct. "Because of the dominance of Tadej Pogačar, Milano-San Remo has become a different race, I think. In the past, riders never stood out so much above the rest like he and Mathieu van der Poel do right now. The fact that they can really make the difference and already go from the Cipressa changes the dynamics of the race."

He still goes, because the race demands it. "Nine out of ten times it's indeed a lost cause, if you look at the result. But you have the kilometers and that long race in the legs. And I think you have to go for every minuscule chance there is. Milano-San Remo is too important a race to just let go."

His own scenario is realistic. "After the climbs I look at what group I'm in and what place we're ultimately fighting for." On who he sees as the dark horse: "I saw Wout van Aert make a good impression in Tirreno Adriatico. I think he'll be close."

“It shows I'm in good shape, but last year I was in really good shape, and I crashed at the bottom of the Cipressa”

Tom Pidcock on winning Milano-Torino and what it means for Saturday

Tom Pidcock won Milano-Torino on Wednesday, timing his move perfectly on the Superga climb. He was measured about what it means. "It shows I'm in good shape," he told Cycling Pro Net, "but last year I was in really good shape, and I crashed at the bottom of the Cipressa."

The day itself felt strange. "It was a weird day. It felt like the first race of the season, almost. With the race rhythm and all the accelerations all day, it felt a bit heavy-legged. Luckily, at the end, I had a kick there and could hold them off."

Reading the finale was the hardest part. "Primož is hard to read. He's always in the saddle. I was expecting him to be good there, and I was hesitating to attack near the end. Everyone was looking pretty strong, but I knew at one point I had to go."

🏆 THE SERGE BAGUET AWARD

“The year I almost thought I was gonna win it. We went away in between the Cipressa and Poggio, four riders. It's a very important moment. And I was dedicating the win to my daughter, and I just kind of didn't focus on the race. I was just so secure of winning it in my mind.”

— Max Sciandri in Life in the Peloton, recalling the 1996 Milan-Sanremo where he finished fourth.

Wonder what The Serge Baguet Award is all about? Check it out here.

💬 QUICK QUOTES

“That doesn't interest me.” — Lotte Kopecky in CyclingNews on holding the record for most wins at Nokere Koerse, after winning it for the third time.

"They could use Del Toro to attack in turns. But the risk is too high that Del Toro wins, and UAE isn't going for a team win, but to win with Pogačar." — Thijs Zonneveld, DS at Beat Cycling, talking about Milano-Sanremo on In De Waaier

“Those are rumours going around, but you'll have to wait until Sunday to see him or not. I have professional secrecy, you know.” — Yves Lampaert in Sporza when asked whether Tim Merlier will return to racing at GP Monseré on Sunday.

“We will attack on every climb, we will make the race as difficult as we can, and then we will see the result. I think Pogačar is in the best shape ever, that he has advanced one more step and I think it is enough for him to win.” — Domen Novak in Peloton warning the competition ahead of Milano-Sanremo.

“It will need to become mandatory and phased in across event classes.” — UCI President David Lappartient in a letter to the teams published by Domestique on GPS tracker implementation across the sport.

“Awful pain in the legs and lactate through and through. It's not a pleasant feeling, but we obviously do it to ultimately experience that euphoria. And when you've felt that incredible pain and you don't get the euphoria, that hurts twice as much.” — Alec Segaert in WielerFlits after being caught just meters before the finish line in Nokere Koerse.

“Creating our own junior team would mean that young riders from different nationalities and regions would have to go and live or work together. And in our view, that goes against our principle. The principle at that age is to do things properly: training done well, not overdoing it. The mistake at that age is rather doing too much, not eating enough, or doing things that are not right. So we prefer they stay where they live, close to their families, continue their studies, and not think about becoming champions and earning money while forgetting the importance of finishing their education." — UAE Team Emirates CEO, Mauro Gianetti in Cyclism'Actu TV explaining UAE's deliberately low-key junior philosophy.

“Of the five monuments, and if you include the Worlds road race, all six in 2023 were won solo. That had never happened before. For the past two years, five of them were won by more than a minute solo. The only time four monument classics had been won solo by over a minute before 2024 was in 1919. It might as well have been a different sport.” — Cillian Kelly ('statman' for TNT Sports cycling coverage) in Life in the Peloton on how Pogačar and Van der Poel have changed the sport.

That's it for today. See you tomorrow 👋

Jay