Despite Mark Cavendish saying he doesn’t think he will lead Dimension Data at Milan-San Remo today, deferring leadership to Edvald Boasson Hagen, his team manager Brian Smith says he actually has a good shot at winning.

“I think from now on you’ll start to see Mark Cavendish getting even faster. The numbers he’s producing now are on the strong side. He’s on good form now. He just needs to get that road speed, and I think that we’ll start to see him get more results from now on,” Smith told Cyclingnews.

“I believe for Mark that there are wins in Grand Tours for him [this season], and I believe that he is going well enough to look at Milan-San Remo as well. What Mark is lacking at the moment is that explosiveness in the finish, but he’s got the experience that counts.”

Smith is also confident in the event that a small group comes to the line, Boasson Hagen can make the group and beat the other fast attackers.

“He’s already beaten guys like Van Avermaet, and I think that he can beat Sagan, so in him, I think we’ve got a serious contender. With his Norwegian champions jersey it’s all about how they play it around him,” Smith told Cyclingnews. “Milan-San Remo gets very nervous, and there are lots of crashes, we’ve just got to make sure that we’ve got numbers over the Cipressa after that, we’ll decide what our options are in the final. One thing, I don’t think that we’ll be allowed to do is to get into the breakaway, like we did last year.”

“I think that Edvald is one of the best Classics riders in the world, and that’s why I wanted him on the team. He went to Team Sky and did tremendous things with them, but he’s a winner,” said Smith. “Team Sky got the best out of Edvald but over the last couple of years, his motivation went. Edvald is a winner, and he had very few opportunities for himself. Now he’s older, wiser and stronger. When you look at Edvald’s Classics, he hasn’t got a great palmarès but I think this year if he stays healthy, and as he is then I believe that Edvald will win a Classic this year.”