{"id":550621,"date":"2026-03-19T13:27:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T13:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/550621\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T13:27:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T13:27:11","slug":"uae-will-not-attack-with-del-toro-the-risk-of-him-winning-is-too-great","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/550621\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cUAE will not attack with Del Toro; the risk of him winning is too great\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

After last year\u2019s spectacular race, many cycling fans will be on the edge of their seats on Saturday, watching the finale of Milan-Sanremo. Yet the likely scenario is already pretty much set, and it looks like we\u2019re heading toward a clash of titans between Mathieu van der Poel<\/a> and Tadej Pogacar<\/a>. Thijs Zonneveld<\/a> shares his insights on the matter in In de Waaier<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It was perhaps the most beautiful race\u2014or rather, the most beautiful finale of a race\u2014of the entire spring: Milan-Sanremo. A thrilling duel between Van der Poel and Pogacar unfolded on the Cipressa and the Poggio, with Filippo Ganna also making his presence felt in the background. According to Zonneveld, we can expect a similar scenario this year as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 95% of the scenarios, either Pogacar breaks away alone or Van der Poel wins in a sprint between the two, with perhaps a third rider joining them, like Ganna did last year. The other five percent is simply that they neutralize each other and everything comes together,\u201d predicts the analyst.<\/p>\n

Continue reading below the photo!<\/p>\n

Zonneveld: “There are really only two people who can win”<\/p>\n

Still, Zonneveld emphasizes that this wasn’t always the case in La Primavera. \u2018At first, this was the classic where almost anyone could win. Sprinters could win, classic specialists could win\u2014everyone actually had a chance. Now it’s basically a race where only two people can win.\u2019<\/p>\n

The Dutchman points to a clear culprit for this development. \u201cIt\u2019s all Pogacar\u2019s fault. He\u2019s the one who ramped up the pace on the Cipressa so much. To win, Pogacar needs to cover the Cipressa in under nine minutes.\u201d Something that already happened in 2025, leaving only three riders at the finish line.<\/p>\n

Continue reading below the photo!<\/p>\n

According to Zonneveld, Van der Poel is unlikely to face many surprises<\/p>\n

The scenario in which Pogacar wins therefore seems to be fully mapped out, which works to Van der Poel\u2019s advantage. \u2018Van der Poel knows exactly where Pogacar will go, on the steepest section of the Cipressa. Van der Poel is very capable of staying on his wheel and accelerating. It\u2019s also not that steep, so Van der Poel benefits greatly from staying right on his wheel; on the Cipressa, it really comes down to raw power,\u2019 concludes Zonneveld.<\/p>\n

Moreover, he is not convinced by Pogacar\u2019s team. \u2018The most important thing is that the team is positioned right at the front for the climb, but I don\u2019t believe that both Jan Christen and Isaac del Toro are in good positions.\u2019 A scenario like last year\u2019s is also ideal for Van der Poel. \u2018Pogacar is the ideal ally. He \u201conly\u201d has to follow Pogacar, and then he\u2019ll probably beat him.\u2019<\/p>\n

Continue reading below the photo!<\/p>\n

Zonneveld: \u201cEveryone says Pogacar will win eventually, but he\u2019s so dependent on certain factors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zonneveld does emphasize that conditions on Saturday could be ideal for the Slovenian. \u2018The wind is perfect, he\u2019s in superb form, and he knows what needs to be done.\u2019 Still, the analyst isn\u2019t ready to jump on the bandwagon of those claiming the world champion will win Sanremo sooner or later. \u2018Everyone says that, but he\u2019s so dependent on Van der Poel\u2019s condition.\u2019<\/p>\n

Finally, the Dutchman sees one other scenario for a possible UAE victory. \u2018They could also use Del Toro to attack in turns.\u2019 Though he doesn\u2019t see this as a realistic option. \u2018Then the risk is too great that Del Toro will win, and UAE isn\u2019t here for a team victory, but to win with Pogacar.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After last year\u2019s spectacular race, many cycling fans will be on the edge of their seats on Saturday,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":546240,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,77973,211219,85,6494,178026],"class_list":["post-550621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cycling","tag-mathieu-van-der-poel","tag-milan-san-remo","tag-sports","tag-tadej-pogacar","tag-thijs-zonneveld"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=550621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/546240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}