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The stars for Milan-Sanremo: 2 top favorites and a faded glory as a dark horse | Milan-Sanremo

Milan-Sanremo has been labeled a lottery for decades, but the favorites lists are predictable. Discover below who our cycling experts recommend for the first monument of the year.

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Just like last year, Tadej Pogacar and Wout van Aert shine with 3 stars behind their name. And you know how that turned out. The Slovenian fired 4 arrows at the Poggio and eventually had to settle for 5th place. Van Aert finished 8th.

In his hunt for the 5 monuments, Pogacar – who already won Liège and Lombardy – has made La Primavera a top priority even more than last year.

Van Aert is less awake at Milan-Sanremo, which he already gave a place in his trophy cabinet 3 years ago.

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In the 2 star men we see an interesting couple from Alpecin-Deceuninck: Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen.

What if both teammates brotherly survive the Poggio in the elite group? Will Van der Poel then roll out the red carpet for the Champs-Elysées triumphator?

Mads Pedersen is also traditionally highly rated for La Primavera, a race that is suited to his strong body. Only he struggled with a cold in Paris-Nice last week. Has that had an impact on his spring condition?

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Few race experts expect Matej Mohoric to repeat his acrobat tour from last year.

The defending champion has to make do with 1 star, just like the winner of 4 years ago, Julian Alaphilippe.

The jury cannot ignore monument debutant Arnaud De Lie either. The big question: how does the young gold nugget digest a course of almost 300 kilometers?

Ook Biniam Girmay does not get too many chances of winning. Although the profile of La Primavera seems like a piece of cake for the Eritrean from Intermarche-Circus-Wanty.

The last man with 1 star is Van Aert’s luxury teammate Christophe Laporte. Will the Frenchman soon conquer that deserved monumental victory in the classics?

Bonus: dark horses

As a bouncer, our race experts each choose a dark horse: a rider who could surprise the peloton and the general public.

A striking name there is faded glory Peter Sagan, one of the top favorites for years. When the Slovak wins La Primavera for the first time, he immediately hangs up his two-wheeler.

Quinten Hermans (Alpecin-Deceuninck) is the only Belgian tipped as a potential surprise.

Other names that made it to the list of dark horses: the Italians Lorenzo Rota and Jonathan Milan, sprinter Fernando Gaviria, the American Neilson Powless and Danish show runner Magnus Cort.

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