Tadej Pogacar has done the unthinkable, claiming his first-ever Milano-Sanremo victory in spectacular fashion. Despite suffering a heavy crash just 33 kilometers from the finish line, the Slovenian superstar fought his way back to win a thrilling sprint against Tom Pidcock, breaking a 43-year-old curse for the reigning World Champion in the process.
The storyline of this edition of Milan-San Remo is alone enough to grant it legendary status. With just 33 kilometers remaining, right before the crucial Cipressa climb, Pogacar hit the deck. However, the UAE Team Emirates - XRG leader miraculously remounted, chased back to the peloton, and proceeded to completely blow the race apart on the penultimate ascent of the Primavera.
The chaotic finale culminated in a frantic two-up sprint to the line, where the Slovenian managed to outpower Tom Pidcock to take the monumental win.
Tadej Pogacar celebrates his win at Milano-Sanremo 2026 with Carlos Sainz
Breaking a 43-year drought
However, what makes Pogacar's triumph even more spectacular is the jersey on his back. By raising his arms in victory on the Via Roma as the reigning World Champion, he accomplished a very rare feat. You have to go all the way back to 1983 (which is already 43 years ago, time really flies) to find the last time a rider won the opening Monument of the season while wearing the iconic rainbow bands.
The last man to pull off this incredible double was Italian legend Giuseppe Saronni. In 1983, the reigning World Champion Saronni isolated himself on the Poggio and won with almost a full minute's advantage over his closest pursuer, Guido Bontempi.
By conquering San Remo in the world champion's outfit, Pogacar joins an incredibly exclusive club of cycling royalty. Aside from Pogacar and Saronni, only three other riders in the history of the sport have achieved this milestone: Eddy Merckx (1972 and 1975), Felice Gimondi (1974) and Alfredo Binda (1931).
Félix SernaCycling Journalist
Félix Serna is a writer at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2025. He covers professional cycling across both the men’s and women’s calendars, with a focus on UCI rankings, race developments, and rider performance. His work includes interview-based reports, liveblogs, and tournament coverage designed to provide clear, accurate context throughout the season.
In his reporting, Félix regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical reference. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available. He holds a bachelor’s degree in International Studies.
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- On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And we, what are we doing?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And yet, it attracts people, even you. What’s more, it attracts the rival fanboys to fill cyberspace with endless pointless my hero is better than your hero blabla that’s all been heard before and only helps sell the site as an advertising platform. You know what the solution is but most can’t resist. No different than women who follow and discuss celebs through gossip magazines.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- he is doing 460 watts for 35 min to achieve 7 w/kg with VO2 at 96 , just unreal numbers.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just do it, and put up with the consequencesJumpyjohn08-11-2026
- "was a headliner at the Tour de France" Nobody cared about Piddie. Only rivals that were there for Pogi, Jonas, Remco, Sexias, Lipo, Del Toro and they were all expected to lose. Piddie was not even in any conversation.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- exactly, he had an amazing season, but with these overstatements they don‘t do him good.Ketterechts08-11-2026
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