Matej Mohorič says he used a dropper post on his Merida road bike at Milan-San Remo.
The Slovenian soloed to victory after leaving behind the likes of Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) on the technical descent of the Poggio, holding on for victory by two seconds over Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies).
Mohorič confirmed he and his Bahrain-Victorious team had long-planned to use the mountain bike tech on his bike for the race, saying he was 'amazed' at how much it improved his descent and made it safer by allowing for easier correction of mistakes. A dropper post has long been used by downhill mountain bikers as it allows the rider to remotely drop the saddle out of the way using a button on the handlebars and creates greater movement of the bike on technical descents.
He also appears to have used the team's non-aero bike, the Merida Scultura, for this reason as the Merida Reacto features an aerodynamic shaped seat post that wouldn't serve a dropper post.
Speaking after the race Mohorič said: “I was thinking about this race for the whole winter. The team came up with the idea of using a dropper post because this race suits me pretty well and it has a descent at the end.
“The team set up a bike for me. We had this plan for a long, long time. I was thinking at first it’s maybe not going to make a huge difference on the descent, but then I tried it in the training and the first time I tried it, I was amazed at how it's much safer. If you go normally it gives you way more control of the bike and if you go full gas, of course, you can go a little bit faster. It’s easier to avoid mistakes or correct them when they happen.”
It wasn't a completely smooth descent for the 27-year-old, as at one point he ended up in a gutter on the left of the road, but was able to hold himself up and get back on the tarmac; a moment which appeared to be the initial distancing of his compatriot Pogačar on the descent.
Mohorič also appeared to suffer a slight mechanical as he entered the last kilometre, but was able to recover quickly enough to hold his speed and get to the line just ahead of the group bearing down on him
