Visma bet on sprinters Laporte and Kooij for Milano-Sanremo: "If Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar accelerate, it will be quite a challenge to follow"

Team Visma | Lease a Bike are tackling Milano-Sanremo head on with a lineup that is focused on conservative racing and the possible sprints. Christophe Laporte and Olav Kooij will both be cards to play in a finale if things pan out the way the Dutch team hopes for.

"I think Milano-Sanremo is a great race. We are not the favourites to win, but we can play an important role in the final," European Champion Laporte said in a press release. "On the Poggio, I will try to stay in front as long as possible and fight for the win. If there is a big group, we have a great sprinter in Olav Kooij. It would be great if we could finish on the podium."

Wout van Aert skips the race as he focuses exclusively in the cobbled classics for the time being; and the team's other two fast men get the chance to leader the 'sprinters' monument'. However, the race is now often won with attacks on the Poggio di Sanremo, or late attacks.

"I am really looking forward to riding my first monument. I've had a good start to the season, so we'll see what the race brings," Kooij added. "I don't think we have the top favourite in our team, although Christophe has started the season very well. As a team, we need to be in a good position and follow the strong men. On the Poggio, it's up to Christophe to go up with the better guys."

"This time, the underdog role suits us. Christophe and Olav are in top form, but if Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar accelerate, it will be quite a challenge to follow them", team DS Marteen Wynants explained. "Fortunately, the favourite doesn't always win. It could go our way if we are lucky."

Team Visma | Lease a Bike for Milano-Sanremo:

Olav Kooij, Christophe Laporte, Johannes Staune-Mittet, Tosh van der Sande, Mick van Dijke, Tim van Dijke and Julien Vermote.