Matej Mohoric: The daredevil descender who 'destroyed cycling' at Milan-San Remo – Blazin Saddles'

As UAE Team Emirates and Jumbo-Visma fronted a stellar group of 26 riders towards the foot of the Poggio, Eurosport commentator Rob Hatch told viewers to buckle up for “the most electrifying 10 minutes of the cycling season”. He wasn’t wrong.

Tadej Pogacar’s UAE team-mates had ripped the field apart on the Cipressa and had Italians Diego Ulissi and Davide Formolo pacing their leader, who had won all three of his WorldTour races entering the 113th edition of La Classicissima. But the three authors of Jumbo-Visma’s recent Paris-Nice opening stage clean sweep – Christophe Laporte, Wout van Aert and Primoz Roglic – were all present and correct ahead of the expected fireworks as the first Monument of the season entered its final spellbinding 10 kilometres.

Ad/> Another team had three riders in the move but at that point in time were not a huge part of the narrative. And yet, an earlier graphic had popped up on the screen to inform us that Bahrain-Victorious had the most top 10 finishers in the last five editions of La Primavera – six in total.

With illness ruling out their leader Sonny Colbrelli – the Paris-Roubaix champion who has finished in the top 10 on four occasions on the via Roma – Bahrain-Victorious were putting their eggs in the basket of Matej Mohoric. Milano — SanremoPogacar: I didn't dare follow 'crazy' MohoricYESTERDAY AT 11:02 If a worthy basket to fill – the 27-year-old specialist descender being a rider who usually excels in long races, finishing fifth in San Remo in 2019 – then it was worth noting Mohoric’s questionable form: no win in six months, two DNFs in his previous two Monuments, and entering off the back of a nasty crash on the gravel that ended his Strade Bianche two weeks earlier.