Tadej Pogacar ready for Milano-Sanremo but not overconfident: “Everything is possible”

Tadej Pogacar has achieved almost everything in cycling, but not yet Milano-Sanremo. That could change today.

The Slovenian superstar starts as the favourite for the first Monument of the 2025 season, a race he’s openly admitted is one he dreams of winning. Alongside Paris-Roubaix and the Vuelta a España, Sanremo remains one of the few top-tier victories missing from his glittering palmarès. But 2025 could be the year he ticks all three off, starting today on the Italian coast.

Speaking to Cycling Pro Net ahead of the race, Pogacar opened up about his recent recovery, his preparation, and the elusive challenge of cracking cycling’s most unpredictable classic.

“Yeah, I think I... I mean yeah, a few days I had to do easy to recover and yeah, was not easy but now I’m here,” he said when asked about how he was feeling post-crash. “I did some good trainings, some good recons and yeah, we have good atmosphere in the team so I’m really looking forward to start tomorrow and we are ready to fight for the victory.”

Asked how much he had re-familiarised himself with the route, Pogacar explained that the roads of Sanremo are far from unfamiliar.

“I train sometimes there on the road because it's not so far from where I live and yeah, I’ve been last few days there doing just training, yeah, doing some speed training behind motor and testing the legs on the Poggio. And yeah, just... it’s good to have more trainings on the parcours, more, the better.”

But despite years of trying, the recipe for success in Sanremo continues to evade him. Is 2025 the year he figures it out?

“I think once I will win this race we can call it that I cracked [it], but until then I will try to find the recipe to win this race.”

Tactics in Sanremo are notoriously difficult to pin down, and Pogacar knows that even the best-laid plans are at the mercy of split-second decisions and team dynamics.

“There’s not too much choices, not too much opportunities. But a lot depends on the race beforehand, how the team situation is going,” he explained. “You can talk about tactics and where you want to try or what you want to do, but in the end it’s so small details that can affect the race that you cannot be... you need to be prepared for everything.”

And when asked whether an early attack, even on the Cipressa, might be on the cards, Pogacar smiled.

“Yeah, it’s possible. Everything is possible. But if it’s a good idea, I don’t know.”