Eddy Merckx offers advice to Tadej Pogačar on how to finally win Milan-San Remo, 50 years after taking record seventh title

Cycling legend Eddy Merckx, celebrating 50 years since his record seventh Milan-San Remo victory, has offered pointed advice to Tadej Pogačar regarding his pursuit of *La Classicissima*. Merckx, speaking to CyclingNews, asserted that Pogačar's best chance of distancing rival Mathieu van der Poel lies in a decisive attack on the Poggio, rather than the earlier Cipressa. This counsel comes as Pogačar, twice a podium finisher, prepares for another attempt at the Monument.

This unsolicited, yet undoubtedly revered, guidance from "The Cannibal" highlights the immense pressure and expectation surrounding Pogačar's Milan-San Remo ambitions. Despite his prodigious talent and two Monument wins last year, San Remo remains elusive, often foiled by the tactical prowess or sheer power of riders like Van der Poel. Merckx's intervention underscores the race's unique demands, where timing on the Poggio is paramount, a lesson he mastered repeatedly during his unparalleled career.

Merckx's advice is less a revelation, more a confirmation of the obvious for anyone who's watched the last decade of San Remo. Still, coming from the greatest, it's a timely reminder that even for Pogačar, some lessons are best learned from history.