Tadej Pogačar Most RIDICULOUS Performance Yet GCN Racing News Show

Welcome back to the GCN Racing News Show. Coming up this week, was that Taddei Pogacar's most ridiculous win ever? He's had a few, but his victory in Milano-San Remo on Saturday was just utterly bonkers. I'll be dissecting everything that happened there and contemplating whether he'll ever return to that race again. Plus, how Lotte Capecchi won the women's race and a wrap-up of Milano-Torino, a host of one-day classics in Northern Europe and one in Spain. This week in the world of racing, we learned that Sylvain Dillier is an absolute beast on a bike. On Saturday at Milano-San Remo, he spent 199 kilometers on the front on his own, averaging 44.7 kilometers per hour over that distance. That is what you call an engine. We also learned that the GCN curse continues, so Si and I made our predictions for the men's and women's Milano-San Remo on our preview show last week, and two of the four riders that we named didn't even make the start line. Elisa Longo Borghini and Matt Brenner were both deemed unfit through illness. Shame they weren't there, but that didn't mean we didn't have two cracking races on Saturday, because we absolutely did. Finally, we learned that Tadej Pogacar is elevating himself beyond cycling. His performance on Saturday was something that left me speechless. He is cementing himself not only as the equal best cyclist of all time, in my opinion at least, but one of the best athletes in any sport ever. At this point, I don't feel that's an exaggeration. What he did at San Remo was mind-blowing. I can't have been the only one to think to myself that it was all over for him when he crashed with 7Ks to go to the Cipressa. In fact, I said exactly that to the people I was watching it with at the time. I know how good he is. I know what he's capable of, but I just didn't think he'd be able to do that. Looking at his Strava, you can see that he was traveling at 52 kilometers per hour when he crashed, and he crashed hard. Most people wouldn't be getting back up after that, let alone back on a bike, and definitely not setting a record time up the Cipressa. That's exactly what he did, ripped a shred down his left-hand side. Also involved in that crash was race favorite Mathieu van der Poel, who banged his hand up quite badly, and Wout van Aert, who had to wait for a spare bike. With the peloton still racing full gas to the foot of the Cipressa, that was a hard chase for all of them. Van der Poel got back on first with the help of his own teammate Jasper Philipsen, whilst Pogacar only made contact with the back of the bunch when they hit the climb itself after some very hard work from Vermeers and Groschart and his teammates. I don't think I'm ever going to forget what happened next. McNulty pulls an almighty turn to guide Pogacar up through the bunch, and in the space of just one kilometer, he gets into the front of it. What was quite interesting was it was relatively easy for them to do that. When you really thought about it, it's quite easy to understand why. I'd imagine that literally every team meeting that morning would have talked about UAE Team Emirates ripping it up on the Cipressa, and I'd also imagine that everyone's tactics revolved around that. With Pogacar not there at the foot, it felt like the other teams just didn't really know how to play it. They raced to the foot of the climb and then stopped, really. Of course, there were a lot of sprinters and non-climbers in that group who didn't want an infernal pace set, so that does make sense, but the confusion and lack of pace did make it a little bit more simple for Pogacar to get to where he wanted to be. Don't get me wrong, by the way, they weren't going slow at the foot of the Cipressa. It just wasn't a ballistic pace. Looking at Strava, you can see that Pogacar covered the first kilometer of the Cipressa climb nine seconds quicker than Pidcock, who was well-positioned going into the foot of it. Once they got to the front, McNulty was not done yet. He put in an almighty shift on the front of the bunch, really stretching things out and putting the hurt on their rivals. Meanwhile, Isaac del Toro was making his way to Pogacar's wheel before proceeding to do the final launch move. Despite the crash, I reckon the way that they rode that climb was pretty close to what they planned in the lead-up to the race, minus Jan Christen, who crashed out near the beginning. Rather inevitably, off the back of del Toro's acceleration, Pogacar made his move. It was scripted, really, wasn't it? Once he was back, everyone knew what was coming, and so it was simply a case of seeing who had the legs to follow, if anybody. We quite quickly got our answer, didn't we? Van der Poel was there, but it was Tom Pidcock who was absolutely glued to his wheel, not budging. The time for Pogacar on the Gepressa, 8 minutes and 49 seconds. Eight seconds faster than last year, despite headwind, and also two seconds quicker than the PB that he'd set in a training ride leading up to the race. Pogacar then continued to push down the descent, and then both riders collaborated with him on the flat coastal road. Against the odds though, the chasing group got themselves well-organized and actually started to bring the gap down for a maximum of 35 seconds to just 10 seconds at the foot of the Poggio. That was mainly down to the work from the likes of Lidl Trek, Wisman Lisa Bike, and Lotto Intermarche, amongst others. Now, the front trio were significantly slower in that section of flat road than last year, although I think that was more down to the headwind rather than lack of commitment. Amartya Van der Poel then led them into the Poggio, but it wasn't long before Pogacar hit the front again. He didn't attack straightaway, but it wasn't long before he put in a huge dig. Somewhat surprisingly, Van der Poel was not able to follow, and it meant that Pidcock actually had to come around him and then close the gap to Pogacar. That must have been a monumental effort. Pogacar did not set the KOM up the Poggio, but compared to when he did that back in 2024, he actually went 15 seconds quicker over the first one and a half Ks of the climb. No wonder Van der Poel was struggling. Fair play to Tom Pidcock. He did everything right, and he managed to cling onto the world champion's wheel all the way over the top of that climb. At the foot of the descent of the Poggio, their gap was 17 seconds, but when Wout van Aert launched an attack from what was a surprisingly large group behind, it started to come down. It meant that the front two could not afford to play cat and mouse. Pidcock sat on for the last kilometer, but Pogacar looked around enough to know what the situation was, and that meant he didn't have to start his sprint until just over 150 meters to go, which was actually quite fortunate for him because Pidcock did come off his wheel and did start to pull level, but the line came just soon enough for Pogacar to take his first win at the race. What a way to do it. We really did watch history last Saturday. Anybody who watched that will, I'm sure, remember it for the rest of their lives. Tom Pidcock, for example, I think will eventually be telling his grandkids about how he one day stuck with Pogacar over the Gepressa and Poggio. It was that kind of level of performance. Pogacar becomes the first rider to win the race in the rainbow jersey in 43 years, Giuseppe Tironi being the last. He now sits level with Roger de Vlaming on 11 monument wins, which puts him now eight shy of Eddie Merckx. It's his eighth successive podium place in a monument, something that's never been done before, and brings him up to a total of 110 career wins so far. There's little doubt he'd had quite a significant chunk more over the course of this season. His next races, assuming his injuries from the crash aren't too bad, are Flanders, Roubaix, and Liege. Would you bet against him winning all of them? At this point, I wouldn't. He'll be the favorite for at least two of those three, if not all three. Now, a lot has been said about Tadej Pogacar in recent years, of course, and there are no more superlatives left to describe him and what he is achieving. But for me, what he did at the weekend was amongst his most impressive physical performances. There are a lot to choose from, obviously. La Planche de Belfie in 2020 at the Tour de France, his first long-range attacks at Strade Bianche, riding away from Van der Poel in Flanders, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. However, the thing with San Remo is that that finale is so fast, so high-octane, you normally can't afford to make a single mistake there. But then he crashed hard and still rode most of the peloton off his wheel on gradients where draft makes a big difference. He took the vast majority of the responsibility of pulling uphill, downhill, and on the flat, and he still won the race. He's also elevating the sport of cycling. Crowds are flocking to races just to catch a glimpse of Tadej Pogacar. What he did on Saturday was certainly not boring. We witnessed greatness, we witnessed history, and we were entertained. Chapeau Tadej Pogacar, that was monumental. The question is, will he return to that race? Well, according to Pidcock, he told him that the only reason he returned San Remo in the future is to get some focaccia. He also gave some quotes himself that suggested he might be done with the race now that he's finally ticked it off his list, which would be a real shame, in my opinion, because it's one of the few races where he starts and you aren't sure that he'll win, which is what has made it so special over the last few years. One thing is for sure, if he doesn't return, that race is going to be ridden significantly differently next season. He's well done, too, to Wout van Aert of Wismar-Leeserbike. As mentioned, he lost even more time after that crash, so to come back then still have the power to attack the group and come third was mightily impressive. That's actually his best result in a monument since Paris-Roubaix three years ago. He's not taken a win in a monument in that time, but his level of consistency is absolutely crazy. He's finished in the top eight of the last 14 monuments that he started, finishing on the podium eight times over that time. On to the women's race now, and I'll start on the Ciapressa there. Without Longo Borghini there, it wasn't a surprise to see Kasia Niewiadoma really trying to make the race as hard as possible, but it was perhaps a little more surprising to see how aggressive Wismar-Leeserbike were in the absence of their two leaders. Pauline Ferrandprevot was never down to ride the race this year, whilst Marianne Vos missed the race to be with her father who is currently seriously ill. Femke de Vries was the first to attack. With 3K to the top of the Ciapressa, Niewiadoma put in a huge attack. For what felt like an eternity though, no gaps appeared behind her, but she went on so long that eventually the elastic did snap. The problem was that either she didn't realize or she'd run out of gas because just as the gap opened up, the front slowed down with nobody willing to commit. Niewiadoma then went again with 1.7K to go to the top, but in the end, the only move that stuck was from Wismar-Leeserbike's Lieke Neuen. She went over the top with quite a decent gap actually. There was quite a serious crash on the descent. Niewiadoma continued to press on hard down there but overcooked it on a right-hander, hitting the Arco barrier and cutting herself up quite badly. The problem was it was a bit of a blind corner and so riding behind weren't able to react in time causing a cascade effect. Margot Vigier of Wismar went over the barrier and slammed onto the deck. Remarkably, she got up, walked back to the top of the road and continued on her way. Debra Silvestri though wasn't quite so lucky. It was a truly horrific moment to watch live, wasn't it? She flew over the top and landed extremely heavily on the concrete below. Given how it looked, she actually got away quite lightly. On Instagram, she gave an update saying she'd broken five ribs and got a micro fracture of her shoulder. We wish her a speedy recovery. Shout-out too to Kim Lecourt-Pinard who stopped by the side of the road to check on Niewiadoma and the others. That was absolutely wonderful to see. Anyway, back to the race. Neuen's gap came down on the flat section leading into the Poggio and she was caught not long after they started the ascent. Nikola Noskova of Cofidis went on the attack there but it was a long time before we saw any reaction behind her. Pukpica went with just over 1K of climbing remaining and to my surprise, she did manage to pull a group clear. Lotte Kopecky and Naomi Rueck were the first to join her and they were later joined by a duo of UAE ADQ riders, Vlodacic and Gasparini. They only had a handful of seconds advantage over the top of the Poggio but thanks to some very fast ascending and then later quite a lot of work from Vlodacic on the flat, the group stayed away. Kopecky had afforded not to do any turns because she had teammate Vives in the group behind her. When it came to the sprint, there was only really going to be one winner, wasn't there? Rueck did come close though. The EF riders now finished third and second at the first two Milano-San Remo donnes, not too shabby. I am very pleased for Lotte Kopecky though. She had a tough season last year so to have ticked off Milano-San Remo already must be quite a big relief. Her record in one-day races really is second to none. Gasparini took third and Vives won the sprint for fourth place on the day. Just before I move on, a quick shop promo. Our Spring Classic prints have been selling really well over the last week or two. I'm glad to see so many of you are liking the designs. There are currently four in the collection, all available in A3 or A4 like this one. They come pre-framed just like you see here. I've also incidentally launched a couple of brand new t-shirts for the Spring Classics. This is one of them but you can find both over at shop.globalcyclingnetwork.com or indeed by scanning the QR code that should be on the screen right now. Right, a few other races to round up. In Belgium, there was a lot to cheer for on Wednesday at Noccere Corsa. First up in the women's race, Lotte Kopecky had taken her first win of the season there. In the uphill sprint to the line, she took what was a relatively comfortable win over Charlotte de Kool and that was Kopecky's third win in the race. In the men's, Alex Segart was caught just before the line having looked like he had a big enough gap to take the win there. Jasper Philipsen won the sprint 12 months after a nasty crash in the finale of that very same race. Segart did get revenge the following day though at the Grand Prix Dinan in what was a very exciting finale. He got away with Per Stranhagen's Visma Lisa bike but baited him into thinking he was suffering in the finale. He hovered 10 to 20 meters off the back of the Norwegian for what seemed like an eternity before then launching an attack and going straight past him. That, I've got to say, was a very well-deserved win. With a sprint finish at the end of the Bredene-Coxseda Classic won by Unibet Rose Rockets Dylan Groenewegen, he beat Ackermann and Bittner to the line there. At the Grand Prix Jean-Pierre Montserrat, there was an incredibly close finish between the bunch and the breakaway. Dylan Groenewegen once again prevailed, narrowly passing Simon de Heers of Alpecin just before the line. It's been quite the season already for Groenewegen, hasn't it? I think there are a few people who thought that the Rockets signed him for his name rather than for his performances because he appeared to be a rider in decline from his peak, but he's now picked up three wins and more UCI points this year than he did in the whole 2025. Right, just finally, Silvia Persico took a win at the Giro del Aponino Donne, whilst José Manuel Díaz took a big win for Burgos BH at the Clásica Teres de Lebre in Spain. In other news, Nairo Quintana announced last week that this is going to be his final year as a professional rider. The 36-year-old has been pro since 2011, winning 51 races in that time, including the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España. His last win though as a pro came over four years ago, unless of course he wins one this year, but he's going to be remembered not just for his wins but also for his battles with Chris Froome at the Tour de France, of course. A quick look now at the win rate for the WorldTour squads now that we're coming towards the end of March. On the men's side, UE are now surging ahead of the rest. Pogacar took their tally up to 17 wins at San Remo, seven ahead of Red Bull and Ineos, Picnic Post are now unfortunately still on zero, and if I'm honest, it's hard to see where a win is going to come for them in the coming weeks, although I do hope I'm wrong. In the women's, FTJ United, Suez and UE are locked together on nine wins each, whilst Visma, Uno-X and Picnic are the three teams yet to take a win. Right, that is all for another racing news show. Next week, it'll be Conor in the hot seat, wrapping up E3, Gent-Wevelgem and the board to Catalonia amongst other races. In the latter, we're going to see Jonas Vindigold back in action alongside Evenepoel, Almeida, Onley, McNulty, Pidcock and many other top names, so that should be a good one, shouldn't it? Thanks as ever for watching and I'll see you in a couple of weeks time or on the GCN show tomorrow.