“The most open race of the year” - In-form French contender Romain Gregoire eyes Cipressa selection as Sanremo chaos offers rare opportunity

At Milano-Sanremo, everyone knows what is coming. Tadej Pogacar will try to break the race on the Cipressa. Mathieu van der Poel will try to follow. The question is what happens just behind them.

Because in a race now decided by seconds rather than gaps, staying close enough can be the difference between riding for places and riding for the win.

Few riders arrive better suited to that moment than Romain Gregoire. “I’m coming here with the ambition to play a role at the front of the race,” Gregoire said through his team channels. “The goal is clear: to be perfectly positioned when the real battle begins, especially on the Cipressa.”

That focus is not theoretical. Gregoire has already lived it. On his debut last year, when Pogacar blew the race apart on the Cipressa, Gregoire was one of the few riders able to respond at first, alongside Van der Poel and Filippo Ganna. The second acceleration ended his race at the front, and the effort lingered all the way to the finish, but the more important detail is where he was when it mattered.

He was there. “This year, the plan is to reach a new level, to stay with the leaders all the way to the summit and keep riding with them,” he said. “From there, anything is possible, and I want to be ready to take my chance and fight for a big result.”

That is the shift. Not a different race, but a different distance to the same moment.

Gregoire does not arrive on promise alone. His spring has already delivered. He beat Matteo Jorgenson to win the Faun Drome Classic, followed it with second at Trofeo Laigueglia, and was fourth at Strade Bianche. The level is there, and more importantly, it has been repeatable.

It is also a profile that fits the race as it is now raced. Not built around control, but around the ability to respond when the pace lifts and hold on when it does not come back down.

That is why he sees the race differently. “Milano-Sanremo is the most open race of the year, and that is clearly an advantage for us.”

Sanremo rarely unfolds in a straight line. The first move is not always the decisive one. What happens immediately after can matter just as much.

If Pogacar goes again, the race will split. If Van der Poel follows, the front will be elite. But just behind, the race often remains alive, stretched rather than broken.

That is where Gregoire fits. Not as the rider forcing the move, but as one who can live closest to it. “Everything has to go in your direction,” he said. “A lot of that comes down to legs, but you have to be there in position and be on a good day and be able to follow the best guys to fight for the win.”

Gregoire does not need to dominate Milano-Sanremo to change his result. Last year showed he could reach the decisive point. This year is about staying there.

Not matching Pogacar and Van der Poel. Just staying close enough that the race might bring him back into it.