Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) used a dropper seat post – allowing him to lower his saddle height with the flick of a switch on his handlebars – to increase his descending speed and improve his bike handling on the Poggio, thus wining Milan-Sanremo.
The 27-year-old said the dropper post had been at the centre of a meticulous plan put together by him and his team over months with the specific intention of attacking on the descent of the Poggio today. He used a Merida Scultura bike today rather than the more Reacto because the Reacto’s aero seat post was much less compatible with a dropper post system.
Mohorič believed the dropper post put him at a very significant advantage over his rivals and was also convinced he could not have descended the climb as fast as he did but for the dropper post.
“We had a plan; to do my best but to be conservative on the Poggio but to try and follow the best, the attacks, and to gradually come back over the top and to do the best descent that I possibly can,” Mohorič said after his win.
“I knew with the dropper post that I had a big advantage. I tested it many times in training and I knew exactly how to use it. I knew it was going to be very hard for whoever was behind me to keep up because it lowers your centre of gravity a lot and it gives you more handling and more control of the bike. It’s probably physically not possible to go as fast without it.
“I was going to the race favourites I know and
showing off the dropper. They asked me what I was doing with a dropper and
laughed but I warned them that if they follow me on descent, it’s at their own
risk.
“I destroyed cycling once with the supertuck,
now I’ve destroyed cycling again. Now I think everyone will start to use
dropper posts. It’ll be one more thing to think about on the bike. It’ll be
like Formula 1. There was just the gas and brake pedals, now they have hundreds
of buttons.”
Mohorič continued: “I was pushing the limits a little bit and on that last corner I lost all the speed and lost some time. I was also very cooked as my condition is still not the best after the crash (at Strade Bianche). But I can’t believe I managed to stay away till the finish.
“I think this is the biggest victory of my career. Ok, the Tour (de France) is the Tour but this one was studied and planned. We had a plan in advance and we made it work 100 per cent and that very rarely happens in cycling.
“I was on the limit but in the end it was all worth it; the whole winter of studying, analysing and testing the bike and the equipment. I’m lost for words. I need to thank every single member of our team Bahrain Victorious; all the mechanics, Merida and all our other suppliers, FSA, who worked with us on this.
“We pulled it off and it’s incredible I didn’t believe it. I had bad luck from the crash in Strade but I never stopped believing. I tried my best in training I was really in a hurry to recover from that crash with my knee and in the end of paid off I can’t believe it.”
Dropper seat posts will be nothing new to mountain bikers as they have been used for years by the off-road community. But the electronic piece of kit has now been used to win one of the biggest races in the world and so we can expect them to become more common after Mohorič’s win today.
Lowering his saddle hit by pressing a button on his bars enabled him to get into a lower, and so more areo, position on the bike going down the climb. And he said afterwards the lower centre of gravity made him safer as he took risks descending the Poggio, this enabling him to go even faster.
The moment the descent began Mohorič got to the front of the lead group – numbering about 15 riders – and then threw himself into action. When a gap opened between him and second wheel Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), the Tour de France champion made a halfhearted effort to chase but them sat up.
That hesitation in the group enabled Mohorič, a brilliant descender, to eke out a slightly bigger gap, which he held to the finish where he won by just two seconds from Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies).
After the race Mohorič did not hold back in praising the work his team – as well as sponsors Merida and FSA – had done to set up his dropper post, which he trained on many times specifically with the intention of using it while on the attack coming down the Poggio today. Indeed, he said he had prepared for months towards his winning attack today coming down the final climb.
