Pogačar better than ever? Bruyneel wonders if it even matters for Milan–Sanremo

Pogačar accelerated on his beloved Monte Sante Marie sector and was already alone with 80 kilometres to go. It looks like he might be better than ever, and the numbers seem to support that too. But Bruyneel put the brakes on the hype a little. “I think he’s simply as good as he normally is right now,” he said on THEMOVE. “That’s scary enough, but I wouldn’t rule out that he’ll be slightly better this year than last year.”

That Pogačar and Strade Bianche are a perfect match is no secret. All four of his wins there have come with remarkable dominance, but other races may be a different story. Milan–Sanremo is the first Monument of the year and, despite everything he has already won, it still isn’t on the world champion’s palmarès. Bruyneel sees it being difficult again for the Slovenian.

“The key will be the zone between the Cipressa and the Poggio, and how they handle that,” Bruyneel explained. “Pogačar can get away on the Cipressa, sure, but Milan–Sanremo is a race where things can come back together again — it’s completely different. Even if he does get away, I can see them organising behind him. It also depends on the wind.”

Last year, Pogačar couldn’t make the difference on the Cipressa, even though he tried. “The fact he set a new record on the Cipressa means he’ll try to ride away there,” Bruyneel added. “We’ll see whether it’s the same Pogačar as always, or whether he’s improved again. But in Sanremo, it’s not Mission Impossible for his rivals.”

Beyond an impressive Pogačar, many jaws dropped at the performance of runner-up Paul Seixas. The 19-year-old wonderkid had Isaac del Toro — Pogačar’s teammate at UAE Team Emirates–XRG — glued to him for a long time, but after doing so much of the work, the Frenchman still managed to ride away from the Mexican champion.

It’s not something we often see from a 19-year-old, but will Seixas — and Del Toro — become as good as Pogačar? “It’s too early to say. Seixas is very young, but the question is how much room for improvement there still is,” Bruyneel said. “They’re already at the top. If they get even better, that’s not good news for their rivals. But I don’t think they have a huge margin.”

Hincapie was clear: he’s a big fan of Seixas, but he also praised the rider’s Decathlon setup. “He’s unbelievably good — he can time trial better than Del Toro. He’s younger as well, and his team is improving really quickly. They’ve figured out how to approach things,” he said. Decathlon also placed Jordan Labrosse and Paul Lapeira inside the top fifteen.

Hincapie found it almost absurd that Seixas still managed to beat Del Toro. “Last year we saw Del Toro pull for thirty kilometres in that Strade stage in the Giro, with Van Aert on his wheel. He almost still won the stage. Now we saw the opposite: Seixas on the front for Del Toro — and he still dropped him. Del Toro is in top form, he won the UAE Tour in dominant fashion, but he couldn’t beat Seixas.”