{"id":204939,"date":"2026-03-23T11:17:33","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T11:17:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=204939"},"modified":"2026-03-23T11:17:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T11:17:33","slug":"pogacar-overcomes-crash-to-win-thrilling-milano-san-remo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2026\/03\/23\/pogacar-overcomes-crash-to-win-thrilling-milano-san-remo\/","title":{"rendered":"Brilliant Poga\u010dar Overcomes Late Crash to Win Thrilling Milano\u2013San Remo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just when you think that Tadej Poga\u010dar can\u2019t top himself, that he has performed all the wonders he is capable of, he goes and does it again. The world champion crashed with 32.2 km left to ride in Saturday\u2019s Milano\u2013San Remo, tearing his jersey and shorts, got back on the bike and, with help from his friends at UAE Team Emirates\u2013XRG, caught the peloton and, long story short, beat Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling), in a thrilling sprint to the finish.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The victory ended years of frustration for the Slovenian, who rode the race five times in the past without winning. He has now won four of the five Monuments and needs only a victory in Paris-Roubaix to join Eddy Merckx,<\/a>\u00a0Roger De Vlaeminck, and\u00a0Rik Van Looy as riders who have won the complete Monuments set. He will have the chance on April 12.<\/p>\n

A momentous crash<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The crash, in which Poga\u010dar appeared to be the first rider to go down, also took down Wout van Aert and Matteo Jorgenson (both Visma\u2013Lease a Bike), as well as co-favourite Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin\u2013Premier Tech), who was struck by a bike, injuring his hand. But he was the quickest of the three contenders in the crash to make it back to the peloton.<\/p>\n

As for Poga\u010dar: \u201cWhen I crashed, for one second, I thought it was done,\u201d he said afterwards. \u201cIt was just before the Cipressa, the most important phase of the race. If I didn\u2019t have my team, I would just [have gone] straight to the finish before [the] Cipressa. Maybe I wasn\u2019t paying attention, and I just slid across the tarmac. I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever made such a long slide, even in a water park. I didn\u2019t have too much damage, and then I saw my team. They gave everything to bring me back. They gave me hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

He went on to say: \u201cAt first, you think it\u2019s over, and you\u2019re swearing in your head. But my bike was still reasonably okay, and then I saw Florian Vermeersch and Felix Gro\u00dfschartner. They brought me back on the Cipressa, and after that, [Brandon] McNulty and [Isaac] del Toro did an amazing job.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was about 30 seconds behind the peloton when the chase began. Van Aert had to wait for a new bike and lost over a minute. He would not be seen on screen again until the end of the race. Though van der Poel was quickest to recover, his injured hand soon became a problem. \u201cThere was a bike in front of me, and I couldn\u2019t go around it, so I crashed,\u201d he said later. \u201cIt\u2019s mainly my hand that hurts a bit. I also had a bike from Lidl-Trek come into me.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Poga\u010dar was joined on the Cipressa (5.6 km @ 4.1%, with a maximum of 9%) by McNulty, who led him to the front of the peloton and then accelerated. With 24.5 km left to ride, del Toro took up the attack until Poga\u010dar took off on the steepest part of the climb. Only Pidcock and van der Poel were able to stay with him, while van Aert was still chasing the peloton.<\/p>\n

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Zobrazit p\u0159\u00edsp\u011bvek na Instagramu<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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P\u0159\u00edsp\u011bvek sd\u00edlen\u00fd Milano Sanremo (@milanosanremo_)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n