“My aim is always to win” - Laurence Pithie hoping for a strong result at Milano-Sanremo in the first Monument of his career
CyclingSaturday, 16 March 2024 at 04:00
Having already impressed this Spring at races such as Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne and Paris-Nice, Laurence Pithie is set to race his first Monument this weekend at Milano-Sanremo. The 21-year-old Kiwi rider took his first WorldTour win of his career at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in January and will be looking for another strong result on Saturday.
Speaking with his Groupama-FDJ team ahead of the race, Pithie said “the last 10km are among the most exciting of the year and I’m hoping to race them in the leading group and come away with a good result. I know there’s a lot of competition, but at the start my aim is always to win”.
At 288km in length, Milano-Sanremo is the longest race on the calendar, which can often make it difficult for younger riders to do well, as they are less experienced in conserving their energy and using it in the right moments. On the length of the race, Pithie went on to say that “it’ll be the longest race of my life, so that’s obviously a factor to take into account. We’ll have to save our energy and be very well placed at the strategic points”.
Stefan Küng is set to lead the team on Saturday, with Pithie there as an option should the race come down to a bunch sprint. Speaking about his younger teammate, the Swiss rider said that “Laurence Pithie has a good sprint and he’s proved that he can climb well. He’ll also be the leader and deserves his chance”.
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- I assume Plapp will be about as popular as a fart in a gas mask this season on the team bus. What an absolute clown shoe. Attacking his own team-mate with a lap and a half to go, bringing back his rivals with you, then fluffing it yourself to let the other guy win. You’d assume that if they had race radios, the DS would be telling Plapp to stop p*sing on Durbo’s chips, but at the same time you’d also expect a World Tour rider to understand this kind of basic racecraft. Felt like watching Dwars with Nielsen Powless and Visma. Hats off to the winner though, and him sledging his former team for giving him the boot, haha. Unreal scenes.antipodeanpedalfan11-01-2026
- You can write the same article replacing JV with a whole bunch of names. Every race needs competitors and wants the best they can get. Jonas has a Vuelta, 2 Tours and no Giro, you said it yourself so - Go figure. Has he ruled out the Tour? Am convinced if Tadej decides to do the Giro, Jonas won’t cancel, it’s nothing to do with dodging, it’s about deciding for himself and not living for others. Jonas has offered plenty of competition to Tadej, it’s not his only purpose or obligation. Had there not been a Tadej, he’d be considered one of the too 3 GT riders ever, he’s just a bit unlucky not to clearly be ahead of Froome and no other recent rider comes close, though Rogliç might have given him a good run if not in the same team.Mistermaumau11-01-2026
- But you see, you are looking at Jonas as if he thinks like you. Maybe he’s not buying houses to MAKE money, perhaps just to use them? There are plenty of countries and cultures where it is quite common for people with means to help those with less, family, friends, neighbours, community. It used to be more like that in a lot of countries where (aside from dole fringe minority) that seems to have changed and probably been forgotten.Mistermaumau11-01-2026
- Oh dear, Nobody was castigating that 18y old starting an unsure career. He’s approaching 30 now, doesn’t seem to want to move, or buy a 2nd home back home to declare at least SOME taxes there if not all, as a thank you to all he got as a child that allowed him to find this path? I’ll admit that he’s nowhere near as bad as CR but CR has one extenuating circumstance, he’s incapable of thinking, Tadej just doesn’t seem to want to consider the big picture. Once Trump and Putin split up Europe you’ll be crying why we didn’t back the idea of Europe more instead of looking so closely at peanuts. You’re free to go look for 1€ houses in the US or Russia if you don’t appreciate the EU. I personally prefer to defend this model as opposed to the other two in which there are very few winners, and currently given a choice, if we can’t defend ourselves, I’d rather team up with the Chinese to counter both the others, though the Chinese won’t drop the Russians as long as the US doesn’t treat them as equals. If you consider there’s any future for this planet if everyone decides only to look after themselves or their kind, you haven’t given things much thought either. That’s the second fastest way to finish things, the first being hate and at the moment we’re doing very well at allowing the two to combine in more and more places.Mistermaumau11-01-2026
- Like Trump taking out Maduro, that was the easy part, now what’s the plan and will everyone follow?Mistermaumau11-01-2026
- I don’t know what the pay cut explains except that his recent results just weren’t that impressive for a team like Visma, he might have understood he’d possibly gain more from them long-term than the salary cut cost him. His previous salary was probably partly based on a receding Tour win with the team that « offered the structure » before they got access to big money. Don’t think it’s as simple as you hope.Mistermaumau11-01-2026
- I would toocaptmike11-01-2026
- I would toocaptmike11-01-2026
- I would like to say one thing to Rúben Silva, the author of the article: "Jonas prefers peace and quiet to money compared to Tadej Pogacar who prefers evading taxes!?!? F*** you Rúben Silva!!! Your f***** stupid and mean, and you know nothing about Tadej. Capish? Pogi is one of the most humble guys, he takes care of his cyclists on his team, he jokes a lot, he buys his team presents, he has his own Pogi team to help young cyclists (they get everything, the complete cycling kit and bike) for free. He loves his girl Urska and he's enjoying life. So Rúben Silva, what else can I say... "shut the f**k up!!!NikkoNicco11-01-2026
- Look I also understand Jonas... do with your money what you like. Maybe he's investing in property and houses...and if he will do it smart, he will make money. That's great, he's thinking about his and his family's future, but the f**ker Ruben Silva made Pogi look like he's a greedy and materialistic person. Shame on him.NikkoNicco11-01-2026
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🎙️ Stefan Küng before Milano-Sanremo 🇮🇹 "I'm doing well after my crash yesterday. It was like riding on ice. I'm sorry that I took other riders down with me. Tomorrow will be a new opportunity. I'm looking forward to the first Monument of the year and we have to be prepared for
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