Team News: McLay rides San Remo for EF Education

Dan Mclay gets a spot in EF Education First-Drapac team for the season’s first Monument with a squad capable of competing in a sprint or in a more attacking, isolated finish

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Team News: McLay rides San Remo for EF Education

#PinkArgyle heads into the season’s first Monument with a squad capable of competing in a sprint or in a more attacking, isolated finish.

Matti Breschel, Simon Clarke, Mitch Docker, Sebastian Langeveld, Dan McLay, Sacha Modolo, and Taylor Phinney will all toe the Milano-Sanremo start line for EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale.

The so-called “Sprinters’ Classic” is truly one of the season’s most difficult races to predict. Its extraordinary length (300km) coupled with its short climbs near the finish and a harrowing descent that whittles the final group combine to produce a special race with varied winners. The symphony of La Primavera builds for hours across the Italian countryside before scattering loudly in the races final kilometers.  … continued after advert

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“It’s special because it’s uncertain,” said sport director Fabrizio Guidi. “Every year we’re asking what’s going to happen on the uphill, the downhill of the Cipressa, how to manage the Poggio. Who will attack and when? There are all these questions. Nobody is really able to say what will happen. Until we see the final, then everything seems easy to predict.”

Modolo has recovered from his crash at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne and is ready to captain the team at MSR. “I feel tense, but it is a good tension. Being a leader give me responsibility, a sense of duty and a desire to repay trust,” Modolo said. “It is the first Monument race of the year, and being an Italian race, for us Italians, it’s everything.”

In a seven-hour race, staying efficient is key, Modolo notes. “Wasting as little as possible throughout the race and get on the Poggio fresh. Then the sprint itself is a different sprint from the others, as it comes after 300 kilometers. The rider who wins has retained that little bit more energy throughout the race,” said Modolo. “I feel good. I’m pedaling well. I’m very confident of doing a good performance on Saturday and also the week after in Belgium.”

Phinney is currently in Milan waiting for the rest of the team to join him. “Sacha is going really well. And I think we’re all motivated as a group to help him out,” Phinney said. “It’s nice to get some fresh blood in with Dan McLay, and I’m looking forward to racing with Mitch Docker for the first time this year. We have a stout squad. Personally, Milan-San Remo is one of my favorite races. Top two in my Monuments list. So I’m always just ready to race it. It’s long but it goes by pretty fast. It’s a special race. The last time I got beat up by Tirreno was in 2012, and I got seventh in Milan San Remo that year.”

JONATHAN VAUGHTERS’ TAKE: “The unique demand of that race is the length. The Poggio is just this intense five-minute period. So it’s funny – it’s this seven-hour race that’s decided in five minutes. It’s a weird combination. It’s not like any of the other classics.”

EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale for 2018 Milan-San Remo:

Sport Director​s:
Fabrizio Guidi (ITA)
Ken Vanmarcke (BEL)

Riders:
Matti Breschel (DEN)
Simon Clarke (AUS)
Mitch Docker (AUS)
Sebastian Langeveld (NLD)
Taylor Phinney (USA)
Dan McLay (GBR)
Sacha Modolo (ITA)

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