How can Tadej Pogacar win Milano-Sanremo? "The secret is to climb Cipressa under 9 minutes" UAE manager believes

Joxeán Fernández Matxín, manager of UAE Team Emirates, spoke about his team's strategy to win this Saturday's Milan-San Remo 2024 with Tadej Pogacar. This could be an anticipation to the team's plans for the first monument of the season.

The Slovenian has been trying for two consecutive editions and has finished fifth and fourth in 2022 and 2023. This year the Asian team seems to have the ultimate strategy by toughening the race even more to try to put things in a better position for the Slovenian and did not rule out in an interview with GCN an attack by the Slovenian in Cipressa to try for the victory and not wait until the Poggio: "Why not? The secret is to climb Cipressa under nine minutes."

In any case, he made it clear that with Tim Wellens, Marc Hirschi, Isaac del Toro and company the goal is to climb as fast as possible up Cipressa and Poggio to thin the peloton as much as possible:

"Two years ago Davide Formolo completed the climb in 9:30 and only 27 riders stayed in the lead group. Last year it was done in 9:50 and there were about 70. I think it's possible this year to do it under nine. In my opinion, no more than 20 riders can do this. It is very complicated and there are still 22 km to go from the top but at that point it depends not only on Tadej, but also on his rivals. Full gas on Cipressa and full gas on the Poggio, it's hard, it's a hard race, but the plan is to win Milan-San Remo. Tadej is a super rider and we have plans for many situations."

"In my opinion, the favorite for the Milano-Sanremo is Mathieu van der Poel. He is the number one and he is the last winner of this race," Matxin said. He explains that Tadej is in very good condition after his exhibition in Strade Bianche and that the key to victory could be in the positioning and strength at the end:

"Tadej, however, is in very good condition. At Strade Bianche he was in very good condition, but this race is not always decided by good conditions. In recent years, the race has come down to an explosive final five minutes. It's about positioning yourself well with good legs and there are many important points in the race where you can't make a mistake."

He ended his interview with GCN by giving his opinion on the Milan-San Remo, considering it the most tactically complicated race on the cycling calendar:

"If you don't have a good position on the Cipressa or the Poggio, you end up spending a lot of energy. In my opinion, this is the most complicated and tactical race of the year. The other Monuments are about power and Milan-San Remo is more about the race situation. A few years ago, a corner behind Matej Mohoric decided the race. After 280 km, this race is decided in the small moments."