On Sunday Filippo Pozzato will lead the Lampre-Merida squad at the Milan-San Remo. Coming off the Tirreno-Adriatico and looking ahead to the first classic of the year, Pozzato talked about Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-San Remo and Belgian Classics looming on the horizon.

Reflecting on his performances in Tirreno-Adriatico Pozzato said, “I started suffering a light cold, but I got better and better and that allowed me to improve the condition in the way I aimed to: the race was very useful in view of Milan-San Remo. It’s true that the cold weather and the rain were not the best thing for the cyclists, but I’m satisfied about what I’ve been doing until now.
During the Porto Sant’Elpidio stage, I quit the race as a precautionary measure since I was aiming to avoid relapses.”

Pozzato also expressed his satisfaction with regards to his form going into the first classic of the spring, “My form is good. In this early part of the season I could train well, but only on Sunday evening will I be able to tell if I did everything in the proper way in order to get to the target. If I compare the situation to 12 months ago, when I underwent surgery for a broken collarbone, the approach to this year’s Milan-San Remo is much better. I could also win one race and I almost won in Roma-Maxima.”

Speaking of possible opponents in the Milan-San Remo, Pozzato expects fierce competition from a wide range of adversaries, “It’s so difficult to forecast the protagonist of this race, the group of the possible winner is very large. I could say that Sagan (Cannondale) and Cancellara (RadioShack-Leopard) are the favourites, but pay attention to Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step): if there is a sprint in San Remo, he’ll be the number one threat.”

Everyone will be keeping a watchful eye on pre-race favourite Peter Sagan, and Pozzato is no exception, “Sagan is very fast, but despite this he’ll try to eliminate pure sprinters such as Cavendish. The hope is that after the limit of 300 km he could be less competitive: last year he suffered very long distances, but I’m aware that he has definitely improved his endurance qualities.”

After Poggio your legs are important... 

In the Tirreno-Adriatico cold conditions and torrential rain played a crucial role and Pozzato is keenly aware that something similar might occur on the Classicissima roads, “Bad weather conditions could change the race so much. First of all, the downhill racing on the Cipressa will become slippery and, as a consequence, selective. Besides, the entire race will be more demanding.
It would be also important to pay attention to the wind: if there’s a strong wind on the Cipressa, few riders will try to attack.”

Without going into too many specific details, Pozzato also talked about team tactics, “In Milan-San Remo the team is fundamental in offering support until the key moments. It would be perfect to rely on a teammate that raises the pace on Manie, then two riders that could give their support on the Cipressa and eventually join the attacks. After Poggio, your legs are important…”

On the importance of the Classicissima, Pozzato said that the race is as important to him as the Belgian classics are to the Belgians, “It’s something special, it’s my childhood dream that I could fulfil. For me Milan-San Remo is the same as the “Holy Week” is for the Belgians.”

Elaborating on the Belgian classics, Pozzato said that the Tour of Flanders will be his first priority, “First of all I’ll focus my attention on Ronde Van Vlaanderen: it’s an outstanding race with a magic atmosphere, but it’s also important to point out that the group of favourites is smaller than in Milan-San Remo. I think the toughest opponents could be Sagan, Cancellara and Boonen (Omega Pharma-Quick Step). I’m sure Tom, despite his health problems, will be very competitive.”