Deceuninck-QuickStep has attempted to take the pressure off its leaders for Milan-Sanremo, Sam Bennett and Julian Alaphilippe, by saying other teams were favourites to take the 2020 edition.
Alaphilippe is the
defending champion and he should be in the hunt for a repeat victory on Saturday.
However, six punctures knocked him out of contention at Strade Bianche meaning
his post-lockdown form is not yet clear.
Sam Bennett, on
the other hand, stormed out of lock-down with an excellent victory on stage 4
of Vuelta a Burgos; attacking on the uphill final kilometre to win solo.
And while Milan-Sanremo rarely comes down to a battle of the sprinters, it is a race Bennett can win from a number of scenarios as he is a better climber than most of pro cycling’s sprinters.
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Much of
Milan-Sanremo will be contested on a new course this year as many of the towns
the event normally passes through did not want to be included on the race route
this year because of Covid19.
However, the 5.6km
Cipressa and the 3.7km Poggio that often prove so decisive towards the end of
the race are included this year.
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Alaphilippe is
capable of attacking there again this year to win solo or from a group, as he
did last year, while Bennett is capable of surviving those climbs and winning
in a sprint.
The French-Irish team leadership for the race will be backed by Kasper Asgreen, Tim Declercq, Bob Jungels and Zdenek Stybar; all teams limited to six riders this year.
“It will be a different Milano-Sanremo, that’s for sure," said Deceuninck-QuickStep sports director Davide Bramati.
"The parcours is changed, it takes place in August when the temperatures are higher and we’ll race it in six, which will make the race difficult to control.
“This time, we won’t start as favourites, we saw since the restart of the season that many other riders are in good condition and should be in the mix in the business end of the race.
"But we are motivated to come out of it with a good result and for that we’ll give everything.”
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