After his splendid 15th place in Tirreno-Adriatico, Bartosz Huzarski has earned the honour of leading NetApp-Endura in their first-ever Milan-Sanremo. With Zak Dempster being the only sprinter in their line-up, the team will try to prove themselves worthy of their invitation by riding aggressively.

 

This coming Sunday, Team NetApp-Endura will be debuting in the Italian spring Classic Milan-San Remo. The race, also known as “La Primavera”, isn’t just the first of the Five Monuments on the cycling calendar, but is also the longest of the season at nearly 300 kilometers.

 

“This is the first time our team will be starting at Milan-San Remo. Of course everyone is extremely motivated to be part of such a Classic. Nevertheless, we also know that getting a good result will be very difficult. Still, we want to ride an offensive race.

 

"Given Bartosz’s current form, I believe that he will be one of the first to cross the mountain at the end of the race. Then we’ll have to see if he will be able to turn this position into a good finish. As always, our main priority is to present ourselves well so that we can live up to the honor of being invited,” said Enrico Poitschke, looking ahead to the weekend’s race. 

 

Every year, the first major Classic of the season starts at Piazza Castello in Milan’s old town.The route then heads south towards the Ligurian coast. Before the riders reach the coast at nearly the halfway mark, they must first cross the 588-meter-high Passo del Turchino. 

 

From there, the peloton will then turn onto the historic Via Aurelia, which runs along the Mediterranean coast towards the finish line. Several short climbs along the final stretch usually shake up the field. The most famous of these hills are Cipressa and Poggio, which often decide the preliminary outcome 20 and 6 kilometers before the finish line.

 

Despite the marathon distance of nearly 300 kilometers and the technically and topographically demanding final stretch, “La Classicissima” usually ends in a mass sprint.

 

Line-up:
Jan Barta, Cesare Benedetti, Iker Camano, David de la Cruz, Bartosz Huzarski, Erick Rowsell, Paul Voß, Zak Dempster