This weekend brings Milan-San Remo to the headlines, the first Monument of the young road season and one of its most difficult and grueling. At nearly 300 kilometers in length, Milan-San Remo is made of equal parts legend and dread as the riders pedal their bikes for nearly seven hours over an erratic and punishing parcours.
 
The Cannondale Pro Cycling Team enters into “La Primavera” with a multi-faceted attack. Rather than one dedicated leader, the team will start with several options and read the race as it comes.
 
“We do not have a dedicated leader for Milan San-Remo but many good options for different scenarios,” head sport director Charly Wegelius said. “Tom-Jelte Slagter and Dylan van Baarle have both been in great form of late while Ramunas Navardauskas is also very well suited to the race.”
 
Coming off a recent victory at GP Larciano, Simon Clarke has proven his high level of fitness and motivation with his new squad. The Aussie’s form combined with his on-road experience has earned him protected rider status on Saturday. A rider with deep Italian connections, Clarke is looking forward to donning the Green Argyle on Saturday.
 
“I feel like I’ve got a fresh start and a new opportunity,” Clarke said. “I’m just trying to make the most of it.”
 
Completing the roster for the longest race on the WorldTour calendar will be Matti Breschel, Kristijan Koren, Sebastian Langeveld and Moreno Moser.  
 
Although the route between Milan and San Remo is mostly flat, every pedal stroke counts as the racers encounter high speeds and, in the past several years, extreme winter weather conditions. Dubbed the “sprinter’s classic”, Milan-San Remo is, by any measure, one of the hardest days of the season.
 
“I think the most difficult part is that it’s almost 300km. Not so many guys can manage the distance,” said Van Baarle. “We’ve got a few good riders like Ramunas, Matti, Langeveld, Slagter. The race itself, if you split it into sections, is not the hardest race. Because of the distance it’s super hard.”

Cannondale Pro Cycling Team for 2016 Milan-San Remo
Matti Breschel
Simon Clarke
Kristijan Koren
Sebastian Langeveld
Moreno Moser
Ramunas Navardauskas
Tom-Jelte Slagter
Dylan van Baarle