'I thought it was all over' – Tadej Pogačar outsprints Tom Pidcock to win Milan-San Remo after late crash
The World Champion claims elusive victory after crashing before the Cipressa
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Tadej Pogačar once again showed the true champion that he is, as he won Milan-San Remo ahead of Tom Pidcock in a two-up sprint on the Via Roma. The pair had managed to drop last year’s winner Mathieu van der Poel on the Poggio and came into the final sprint together, but it was the World Champion who emerged victorious, as he claimed one of the few major races to have eluded him thus far in his career.
Though many would have expected Pogačar to win La Classicissima at some point or another, few would have predicted the manner in which he would end up doing so, as the Slovenian rider suffered a crash shortly before the start of the Cipressa, leaving him with road rash, shredded kit and a massive uphill battle to get back to the head of the race with 33km to go.
The crash had clearly had an effect on him, but the short time that it took him to return to the front of the peloton was nothing short of spectacular and a credit to his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammates, who then launched him onto the attack with 24km to go, with only Pidcock and Van der Poel able to go with him.
Article continues below“When I crashed, I thought it was all over,” said Pogačar in his post-race interview. “To crash in Imperia just before the most important part of the race is not ideal, but luckily I was quickly back on the bike and there was not too much damage to me or the bike.
“Then I saw my team, Florian [Vermeersch] and Felix [Großschartner], they left out everything to come back to the front. They gave me back hope and the legs were still okay, Brandon [McNulty] and Isaac [del Toro] did the rest on the Cipressa. Today if there’s no team, then I would not go right onto the Cipressa, but I would have gone straight through to the finish line.”
After the trio worked together in the few kilometres between the Cipressa and the Poggio, Pogačar then managed a feat that he has attempted unsuccessfully in each of the previous three editions, as he dropped Van der Poel with an attack on the lower slopes of the Poggio, with the Dutchman unable to hold the wheel on the rapid ascent.
“When we were pulling turns, I was really happy that everybody worked,” Pogačar continued. “It was a bit of a headwind, so not ideal like last year and it was a bit harder in the middle part. When we hit the Poggio, it was a better wind this year, so I tried to go all out there. The ideal would be to go alone, but Tom Pidcock was really strong. Chapeau to Mathieu, he did an amazing race also, but in the end me and Tom came together and I was lucky in the sprint.”
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Pidcock was able to stay in contact over the top of the climb and on the descent, despite Pogačar putting pressure on the British rider with multiple accelerations. As they came off the downhill and into San Remo, it was clear that they would have to work together to maintain their narrow advantage over the peloton behind, but once they reached the Via Roma, both riders’ focus quickly turned to the sprint.
Pidcock forced Pogačar to the front in the final few hundred metres, but then slightly boxed himself in against the barriers when the sprint was launched. The Q36.5 Pro Cycling rider then attempted to burst out of the slipstream, but did not have enough to come around his rival, with Pogačar winning by half a wheel on the line.
“Tom is a really fast guy, we all know this. He’s punchy, he’s fast and he looks in really good shape, so I was a bit afraid when he let me go first and I was waiting for as long as possible, but I also know I cannot wait too long, because he has a better kick than me probably. In the end, I was surprised. It was really close and chapeau to him,” the World Champion concluded.
More to follow...
Results
Milan-San Remo 2026: Pavia > San Remo (298km)
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 3:47:17
2. Tom Pidcock (GBr) Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling, at same time
3. Wout van Aert (Bel) Visma-Lease a Bike, +4s
4. Mads Pedersen (Den) Lidl-Trek
5. Corbin Strong (NZl) NSN Cycling
6. Andrea Vendrame (Ita) Jayco AlUla
7. Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step
8. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Premier Tech
9. Matteo Trentin (Ita) Tudor Pro Cycling
10. Edoardo Zambanini (Ita) Bahrain Victorious, all at same time
Joseph Lycett is a freelance journalist for Cycling Weekly, who contributes to our WorldTour racing coverage with race reports and news stories. Joe is also a keen cyclist, regularly racing in his local crits and time trials.
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