![\"milano](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/milano-sanremo-2026-final-podium-69bee2b56f449.jpg@webp.webp\")
<\/p>\n
\nA split-second decision on Via Roma<\/p>\n
After nearly 300 kilometres, the sprint in Sanremo was always going to be defined by fine margins. Bettini\u2019s analysis focuses not on power, but positioning. \u201cEverything was regular, though. Pogacar didn\u2019t close, he wasn\u2019t irregular, he simply gave a signal by leaning slightly towards the barriers,\u201d Bettini explained. \u201cIf you watch the sprint again, he comes out, goes around him and passes on the left. In the end, he lost by just a few hundredths, about thirty centimetres.\u201d<\/p>\n
That moment, where Pidcock initially committed to the narrow space on the right, is where Bettini believes the race tilted away from him. \u201cMaybe, if he had gone on the wider side of the road, where he had all the space to express himself without hesitation, I don\u2019t know how it would have ended. Maybe we would be talking about the photo finish of history.\u201d<\/p>\n
Race craft, not controversy<\/p>\n
The positioning of Pogacar has drawn attention, but Bettini is clear in his interpretation. \u201cI\u2019d say professionalism. He did nothing irregular. It\u2019s normal that if there is a metre between me and the barriers, ten centimetres of movement is enough. Sometimes just opening your elbow is enough to close a gap. It\u2019s race craft.\u201d<\/p>\n
In that sense, the sprint was not decided by anything controversial, but by experience and instinct in the final metres.<\/p>\n
Bettini even suggests that the outcome could have been very different had Pidcock committed earlier to a different line. \u201cIf he had gone straight into the middle of the road, he would have had the whole width available. At that point, for Pogacar to lean, he would have had to change his line. In that case, yes, it would have been irregular.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Pidcock, Pogacar & Van Aert on the final podium<\/p>\n
A mistake others may not have made<\/p>\n
That is where Bettini\u2019s wider conclusion becomes more striking. \u201cWell, based on how it went with Pidcock, and the small mistakes we\u2019ve analysed, I think Pogacar would have lost the sprint to both Van der Poel and Van Aert.\u201d<\/p>\n
Neither Mathieu van der Poel<\/a> nor Wout van Aert<\/a> were present in the final selection on Via Roma, but in Bettini\u2019s view, their experience and decision-making in that moment would likely have led to a different result. It is a claim that both elevates Pidcock\u2019s ride and sharpens the critique of the finish.No regrets, only what if<\/p>\n Despite the analysis, Bettini does not suggest Pidcock has grounds for complaint. \u201cHe\u2019ll watch it again and ask himself how the sprint of his life would have gone if he had gone left immediately. But with \u2018ifs\u2019 and \u2018buts\u2019 you don\u2019t win Sanremo.\u201d<\/p>\n And that is the lasting tension from the 2026 edition.<\/p>\n Pidcock proved he could match Pogacar over the climbs. He proved he belonged in the decisive moment of a Monument. But according to Bettini, when the opportunity finally arrived, it was not taken in the way it needed to be.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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