Having crashed on the run-in to the Cipressa in the weekend's Milan-San Remo, Tadej Pogačar, admitted he thought his race was over. As we all know now, he made a typically stunning comeback to take his first win in the race on the Via Roma, but had he known the full story, he may well not have even bothered.
It turns out that the Slovenian's victorious ride, which saw him outsprint Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) on the line in San Remo, was done on a cracked frame with, incredibly, a rubbing rear brake, the damage incurred in the earlier crash. All this only transpired after the race, upon inspection of the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider's Colnago V5Rs.
Pogačar's mechanic, Boštjan Kavčnik, explained: “Only after the finish did we realise Tadej had ridden the finale on a cracked frame,” he told Slovenian outlet Delo.si. “The rear triangle was damaged, but fortunately it held together. The disc was also rubbing against the braking surface.”
The four-time Tour de France winner had crashed on his left-hand side at the front of the peloton as they raced towards the foot of the Cipressa climb – one of two key ascents in the finale, along with the Poggio that follows. He was using a single ring set-up for light weight and aerodynamics, explained Kavčnik, so there was no left-hand shifter but, all the same, his Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 gears went into crash mode.
“He reset it himself and didn’t notice anything else wrong, so we didn’t change the bike,” the mechanic said.
Despite the crash, and the damage, Pogačar was quickly up and was able to forge a gap with Pidcock and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) on the Cipressa. They took that advantage to the Poggio where Pogačar attacked again, dropping Van der Poel but taking Pidcock with him. A daredevil run off the hill followed as two of the world's best descenders attempted to draw out an advantage, but, said Kavčnik, “If he had known the true condition, he would never have descended so aggressively."
Having been used to best Pidcock by half a wheel, Pogačar's Colnago has become a luxurious and storied museum piece. No longer useable, "it will go into his special collection," Kavčnik said.
