Tom Pidcock has said that the possibility of attacks before the Poggio, Milan-San Remo’s decisive climb, should not be ruled out on Saturday.
The Poggio often proves to be decisive in the first Monument of the season but the current racing environment could give way to a select group, or solo winner, going clear beforehand.
Mathieu van der Poel launched his race winning attack at the Poggio’s summit last year before soloing to the line. Matej Mohorič, the winner two years ago, won the race after a daredevil descent from the climb using a now infamous dropper seatpost.
Tadej Pogačar recently won Strade Bianche for a second time after a long range, 81 kilometre, solo attack and Pidcock says he will be alert to other riders launching attacks from as far out as the Cipressa on Saturday.
“I think I’ve been building well, I haven’t had any setbacks yet this year so I can take confidence from that,” Pidcock said ahead of the race. “San Remo is simple really. It’s the people who are fastest up the Poggio and then who can descend it well.
“I think you need a team around you that can get you in there in a good position. Although attacks on the Cipressa won’t surprise me this year to be honest.”
Pidcock has started the Classics season in solid form, taking eighth at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and fourth at Strade Bianche. The British rider heads into Milan-San Remo after finishing ninth on GC at Tirreno-Adriatico.
He was forced to miss San Remo last year due to concussion picked up in a crash in Tirreno-Adriatico. His best ever finish at the Italian Monument is fifteenth.
“I would say I’ve only really raced Milan-San Remo once, that was in my first year, in my second year I was sick,” he said. “So it’s actually a race that I’ve not ridden so much but it’s one that I’ve always watched.
“I love this race, I’ve been in the south of France for one winter so I’ve ridden these roads a little bit as well even though that was a little bit of a while ago now.”
Meanwhile, Filippo Ganna will be Ineos Grenadiers’ joint leader on Saturday. The Italian finished second behind Van der Poel last time out and is the second of two cards that the British team has to play.
Alongside Ganna and Pidcock, Ben Swift, Luke Rowe, Michal Kwiatkowski, and Jhonatan Narváez make up the rest of the Ineos squad.
Kim Heiduk was initially part of the line up announced by the team but a recent crash at Nokere Koerse in Belgium has ruled the German out with a broken collarbone and elbow.
Pidcock said that he had faith in the team around him for Saturday so that he can focus on his main task, being part of the select group on the Poggio that eventually will contest the win in the streets of San Remo.
“The team around me give me a lot of confidence actually,” he said. “I feel having these guys behind me, they know what they’re doing and I can rely on them to get me in the position that I need to be in to be in with a chance of winning.”