Whether Tadej Pogačar hopes to win Milan-San Remo with an attack over the Cipressa, the Poggio, or even from the Turchino, as he joked on Friday, his task has been made even harder after a key teammate crashed out early in the race.
The 298km Monument from Pavia to San Remo claimed its first victims after 55km of racing on Saturday morning as two riders crashed in the peloton, abandoning the race shortly afterwards.
Orluis Aular of Movistar was one of the two men involved, and, unluckily for Pogačar, his teammate Jan Christen was another caught up in the carnage.
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The Swiss racer has scored two wins in 2026 so far, with a stage and the overall at the AlUla Tour to his name, and figured to be one of Pogačar's right-hand men at San Remo alongside Isaac del Toro, Brandon McNulty, Domen Novak, Florian Vermeersch, and Felix Großschartner.
However, he left Milan-San Remo with 242km to run after falling with Aular.
"Unfortunately, Jan Christen was forced to abandon the race due to a crash. Wishing him a speedy recovery," his team announced on social media.
It remains to be seen how Christen's withdrawal affects Pogačar's race later in the day.
The Slovenian is already facing a difficult task to add Milan-San Remo to his palmarès, with Classics rival Mathieu van der Poel seeking to win the race for a third time and wind conditions not playing in his favour this afternoon.
At the time of writing, the peloton had covered just over 100km of racing at a 45kph average speed approaching the Turchino, while a nine-rider break lay 2:40 up the road.
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