"If Pogacar drops Van der Poel, we won't see him again until the finish line": Filippo Ganna analyzes the Milan - Sanremo 2026

Filippo Ganna returns to the Milan-San Remo 2026 with the feeling that he has learned everything necessary to take the final step. The Italian, who has two recent second places, reviewed in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport the keys to the Classicissima, focusing especially on what happened in the last edition and how the script can change this year.

Filippo Ganna arrives at the Milan-San Remo as one of the few capable of challenging Pogacar and Van der Poel

“Winning a Monument is making history. I have already brushed against it twice, and now I want to achieve it,” explains Ganna, who presents himself again as one of the few capable of beating Pogacar and Van der Poel in a race he knows in detail.

The analysis of the INEOS Grenadiers rider directly stems from what he experienced last year. For Ganna, everything changed at the Cipressa when the pace skyrocketed with Tadej Pogačar's attack.

“I didn't expect Pogacar's attack, and it was one of the most intense efforts of my life,” he acknowledges.

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That move broke the race earlier than usual and forced the favorites to enter a limit terrain much earlier than the Poggio. Ganna managed to hold on and stay in the leading group alongside Pogačar and Van der Poel, confirming that his engine allows him to compete even in the most demanding scenario.

However, the Italian is clear about where he really lost the race. It wasn't on the climb, nor on the descent, but at the finish. “Last year I could have managed the sprint differently, but I wasn't clear-headed enough after spending so much time above the limit.”

That is the key point he wants to correct in this edition. It's not just about arriving with the best, but doing so with enough clarity to make decisions in the final meters, something that in Sanremo is as important as the legs.

Unlike other favorites, Ganna does not cling to a specific plan and acknowledges that the Milan-San Remo does not allow for anticipating a single development.

“There is no ideal scenario. Sanremo is a puzzle where all the pieces have to fit.”

This uncertainty is precisely what forces riders to constantly adapt. The Italian assumes he will have to interpret each phase of the race, from the Cipressa to the Poggio and the finish, with no margin for error.

In his analysis, the duel that will mark the race also appears. Ganna is aware that much of the development will depend on what happens between Tadej Pogačar and Mathieu van der Poel: “I hope Pogacar doesn't manage to shake off Van der Poel. If he does, we won't see him again until the finish. Mathieu is one of the few who can keep him in check, or more relaxed.”

For him, that balance is fundamental. If both neutralize each other, the race remains open. If not, the margin for the rest is minimized.

With the experience of recent years and a much more refined reading of the race, the Italian arrives at the Milan-San Remo 2026 with the idea that this time it is not enough to just hold on. The key will be knowing how to decide.