It’s the Thursday cycling news roundup — the Thursday before Milan-San Remo, aka 90% tedium, 10% electric. Mike offers his pre-race rankings — and reveals your rankings of the Spring Classics. Plus we caught some midweek races that offered up signals for this weekend; Lenny Martinez captured our fandom — and a bunch of kids rode bikes for a good cause around Santa Cruz, California.
TOP STORY
- Mike Ranks the Milan-San Remo Contenders
RACE NEWS
- Your Votes Are In: PEZ Readers’ Favorite Classic to Watch Is…
- Pidcock Sends a Winning Signal at Milano-Trentino…
- …As Does Philipsen at Danilith Nokere Koerse
- Kopecky Reigns — Again — at Nokere Koerse
TEAM AND RIDER NEWS
- Our New Favorite Rider? Lenny Martinez
MIKE’S RIDE OF THE WEEK
- The Santa Cruz Supermarket Street Sweep
Mike Ranks the Milan-San Remo Contenders
It wasn’t always the case the repeat Primavera winners were extremely rare: The Cannibal won it seven times.
But now we’re in the age of the long-range attack, and the Cipressa-lull-Poggio stretch is like a lab for exciting racing: Just enough spice to give the climbers a chance; not enough to rule out the sprinters completely. (Not that true sprinters have won MSR of late; we arguably haven’t seen one of those since Cavendish’s 2009 win. Shoot — Cipollini won it once, and that guy typically turned tail in sight of a hill.)
That’s what makes watching Milan-San Remo so exciting: Even in an era of Pog/Poel dominance, this race still could go someone else’s way. With that in mind, here are my rankings of this year’s contenders:
Tier One — With all that said…This race will probably come down to one of these two.
- Tadej Pogačar
- Mathieu van der Poel
These are very different types of riders, yet have equally solid chances of winning this Saturday.
Tier Two — Should something go strategically, mechanically, or accidentally wrong for one of the Tier One riders…
- Matthew Brennan
- Filippo Ganna
Because predictions are only interesting if they’re bold, right? Brennan has shown flashes that have some of us believing that he can hang over those shallow climbs — and he packs a final-meters punch should he be with the leaders on the Via Roma. Plus he has a strong team around him, including the superest-domestique around (see below: van Aert, Wout).
An unlikely scene in San Remo, but…
Tier Three — Teammates of the favorites (one who’s a former winner) and one rider who can out-descend everyone off the Poggio.
- Isaac del Toro
- Tom Pidcock
- Jasper Philipsen
If he can just hang on up the Cipressa and the Poggio, Pidcock could “pull a Mohorič.”
Tier Four — Strong all-rounders who need some luck to get on the podium
- Romain Grégoire — The last rider shaken loose by Pogačar’s attack last year
- Tobias Lund Andresen —Really! He’s having a career-making year, and always seems to be there at the end.
- Matej Mohorič — His 2022 theft was likely once-in-a-career, but…
- Laurence Pithie — Can he finally realize his sprinter/rouleur potential?
- Wout Van Aert — It’s tough not to put this sentimental favorite in a higher tier
Some of Wout’s best work lately has been in support of teammates.
Tier Five — Because you have to have five tiers…
- Matteo Jorgenson — Who looked sneaky strong at Tirreno last week
- Lukáš Kubiš — Because every list needs a Unibet Rose Rocket
- Luke Lamperti — Really starting to turn heads — and criterium-borne guts will help with vital positioning.
- Giulio Pellizzari — Riding a very strong results wave this spring
- Tim van Dijke — Suddenly on a lot of radar screens
Jorgenson has been riding strong, but will likely ride in support of Brennan.
We assert predictions and rankings to start conversations, so…Tell me what you think! Shoot me an email at mike@pezcyclingnews.com — tell me I’m crazy — or brilliant — or proffer a bet. We can settle up Saturday morning.
RACE NEWS
Your Votes Are In: PEZ Readers’ Favorite Classic to Watch Is…
Paris Roubaix!
According to our Monday poll, more of you would prefer to watch all of The Hell of the North than any other Spring Classic, followed not-too-distantly by the Tour of Flanders — and then a significant gap to the following three.
You also really like RVV.
My sense is that “all of” is doing a lot of work here: You answered from a Eurosport-and-chill perspective, all cozy on the couch, coffee in hand. If you ask me, the race I’d want to watch some of, is Milan-San Remo, with its anyone’s-guess final 30 kilometers. But La Primavera came up second-to-last, barely ahead of Amstel Gold (which, truth be told, I included because six seemed like the right number of choices).
The good news: These races come hard and fast in the coming weeks; blink and we’ll be watching Liège in late April. Keep an eye on PEZ for all of your Classics coverage — and cheeky commentary!
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.
For more background on the storied classic, check out the Paris-Roubaix history lesson that PEZ featured last year.
Pidcock Sends a Winning Signal at Milano-Trentino
It’s not Milan-San Remo — it’s a midweek race, non Monument — but it is the oldest race on the WorldTour calendar: Milano-Trentino, with its iconic hilltop finish — one that Tom Pidcock commanded.
The penultimate climb was animated by one Primoz Roglič, appearing to be returning to fine form — even though his recently-stated single season goal, the Vuelta a España, is several months away. The Slovenian pulled away a select group, heading into a descent, and then the final climb to Superga.
But there would be no Roglification today; Primoz couldn’t match Pidcock’s late acceleration. The Brit won with plenty of time to sit up; Tobias Halland Johannessen folllowed, with Roglič hanging on for third.
It was hardly a Milan-San Remo-level field, but the win gives Pidcock a kick of momentum heading into the season’s first Monument.
Derek Gee-West seemed to be in better spirits at the start.
106th Milano – Torino Results – Courtesy of ProCyclingStats.com
…As Does Philipsen at Danilith Nokere Koerse
Jasper Philipsen claimed victory at Danilith Nokere Koerse on Wednesday, proving the fastest in a reduced bunch sprint to win ahead of Jordi Meeus and Juan Sebastian Molano.
The race covered 186.4 kilometres from Deinze to Nokere, featuring two local laps packed with cobblestone sections before a final circuit finishing on the uphill Waregemsestraat — a finish layout introduced in 2025 to replace the trickier Nokereberg climb.
An early four-man breakaway including Lionel Taminiaux, Jelle Harteel, and Americans Jonah Killy and Sean Christian built a lead of nearly four minutes. Alpecin-Premier Tech, protecting their sprinter Philipsen, drove the peloton back, and the escapees were gradually reeled in. The day was further disrupted by a series of crashes, with Timothy Dupont, Pascal Ackermann, and Hugo Hofstetter among those going down — Philipsen himself being forced to change his racing shoes.
The race’s decisive moment came when Alec Segaert launched a solo attack 13 kilometres from the finish, eventually building a lead of over 30 seconds. But the Waregemsestraat’s uphill drag took its toll, and with meters to go the peloton swept past. Philipsen timed his sprint perfectly, overtaking both Molano and Segaert inside the final 100 metres to win convincingly.
As with Pidcock’s win at Milano-Trentino, Philipsen’s victory was no triumph over the sport’s top contenders; still, his power up the final climb was impressive. Perhaps I should move him up a tier…
80th Danilith Nokere Koerse Results – Courtesy of ProCyclingStats.com
Kopecky Reigns — Again — at Nokere Koerse
Lotte Kopecky delivered a commanding performance at the 2026 Danilith Nokere Koerse on Wednesday, powering to her first win of the season and her third career victory at the Belgian semi-classic, surging clear in the final 150 metres to win with apparent ease.
The seventh edition of the women’s race featured 22 cobbled sectors, 10 climbs, and 133 kilometres, starting in Deinze and finishing on the uphill Waregemstraat. An early breakaway shaped the race before Ilse Pluimers launched a late move, only to be caught inside the final kilometre, setting up a sprint in which Kopecky beat Charlotte Kool and Lara Gillespie to the line.
The victory carries extra significance: it marks the sixth consecutive year that SD Worx have won this race, and with three titles Kopecky now holds the outright record for wins at the event. It also comes as she returns from a back injury that disrupted much of her 2025 season.
With Milan-San Remo next on her schedule, Kopecky heads into the first Monument of the season with that pressure lifted and her form confirmed at exactly the right moment.
7th Danilith Nokere Koerse Results – Courtesy of ProCyclingStats.com
TEAM AND RIDER NEWS
Arensman Recovering — But Not Badly Hurt After Fall
For Thymen Arensman, Tirreno-Adriatico was a week of two halves: In the opening time trial, he was the only one who could get close to his INEOS Grenadiers teammate Filippo Ganna, but after a crash in the gravel stage to San Gimignano, Arensman struggled, ultimately finishing the stage race in fifteenth place overall.
“I am reasonably satisfied with my performance during the first two stages, but after a crash on the gravel it was very tough to race for the podium,” Arensman said on Instagram. “If you aren’t 100% these days, that is all the more difficult. My general classification plans went into the trash after that crash.”
Arensman sacrificed himself a number of times for his American teammate Magnus Sheffield, who finished ninth in the general classification. “It was a great week with the team,” states Arensman. “My body is still scraped and covered in wounds, but I am recovering well. The form is where we want it to be.”
Now, the two-time Tour de France stage winner is taking a break from cycling. “I am going to tour around Italy like a tourist for almost a week without the bike. I’m not going to think about the bike for a few days,” he concluded.
The Tour of the Alps (starting April 20) and the Giro d’Italia (starting May 8) are among Arensman’s next goals. It is not yet known whether he will compete before then.
Thanks to Wielerflits for this content.
Our New Favorite Rider? Lenny Martinez
Why, you ask? Because he hung with Jonas Vingegaard on the final climb of Paris-Nice — and in fact pipped him at the line?
Sure, that made for exciting racing, but — in addition to being a Frenchman named “Lenny” — Martinez also mustered enough panache to high-five an underwear-clad roadside fan, less than a kilometer before the finish.
Chapeau, Lenny!
MIKE’S RIDE OF THE WEEK:
THE SANTA CRUZ SUPERMARKET STREET SWEEP
This very different ROTW comes courtesy of some generous students at the University of California Santa Cruz.
On a recent Sunday, I joined them for an alleycat-style race around the not-so-mean streets of their beach town. No one took the race that seriously; the competition doubled as a food-raiser for the local food bank.
It doesn’t look like that much — but that’s 150 pounds to the local food bank!
Armed with a list of required items — cans of beans, bags of rice — we rode from grocery store to grocery store, either as fast as we could (the Speed Category) or gathering as much as we could (the Cargo Category).
I raised my kids going to a much larger version in San Francisco, a holiday season event that’s been running annually for 20 years. This was the first-ever version in Santa Cruz, organized by my son, who grew up taking on the SF ride.
Some of the Street Sweep bikes. Note the custom-sewn burrito carrier on the lower right.
My exhortation: Launch the same event in your hometown! It doesn’t take much to put it together. Hang some signs, invite some friends, cobble together some prizes…It’s a great way to spend a day, and a great thing for your local food bank.
In honor of Jonas Vingegaard’s Paris-Nice victory, we’re re-sharing last year’s interview with the two-time Tour de France winner.
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