In the 116th Milano-Sanremo, Tadej did not celebrate his first victory, but he ensured that it was perhaps the most exciting “clasicissima” yet. In the 289-kilometer race, the battle for victory ignited on the climb to Cipresso, where the riders of UAE Team Emirates – XRG set a fierce pace, and Tadej attacked with all his strength 24.7 kilometers from the finish.
All competitors fell behind, except for Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin Deceuninck) and Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers). Tadej attacked a few more times, also on the final climb to Poggio, where Ganna found himself in trouble, but van der Poel held on, and just below the summit, attempted a counter-attack.
Tadej caught him, and together they descended into Sanremo, where Ganna also returned to the front of the race just before the finish. The Dutchman started the sprint first, having the most strength, thus celebrating his second victory on Via Roma. The Italian took 2nd place, and Tadej 3rd.
»We will analyse and we will see what went wrong. But right now, I can say we rode a really good race. From my point of view it was a very good race and we tried everything to make the race really explosive, but it was not enough. We had two better riders today. But there’s another chance next year,« Tadej said after his second consecutive 3rd place in Sanremo, stating that he will continue to strive for victory, even though the flat route of the first monument of the season does not suit him.
»On paper, the route may be too easy for me; I would prefer if Poggio were 5 kilometers long with a 10% gradient, but it is what it is. It is very difficult for me to make a difference in this race; the laws of physics are clear here, and you can’t do magic,« continued Tadej.
»I don’t know what my face looked like, because there is no mirror on the bike. Surely there were a few moments of pain on it. My legs were very good; perhaps I was missing my peak power. I could try to attack many times, but I always fell short of a few watts from my peak,« added Tadej. He did not want to reveal whether he would participate in the Paris-Roubaix race for the first time this year. The »Hell od the North« is the only monument he has not yet won, alongside the Milano-Sanremo.