At 38 years of age and considering retirement at the end of the season, Robbie McEwen has probably his last ever chance to win Milan-Sanremo on Saturday. Fortunately for him, the Australian has said that he is in excellent shape, and is feeling optimistic heading into the 298 kilometre Classic.
“I haven't felt this good on the bike probably ever going into San Remo,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald.
McEwen’s best placing in the race was fourth in 2007. In the years since he suffered a bad knee injury and has seen a drop off in the number of his victories, but things have gone well in recent months and he’s feeling good. He was second, third and fourth on stages of the Santos Tour Down Under, second in the Tour de Mumbai and sixth on a stage of Tirreno-Adriatico.
That all sounds solid rather than spectacular, but he’s confident that he’ll be in the hunt.
“Talk doesn't matter much… The 300km will sort out most things,” he said. “Everybody has their plan, their tactics, and everyone knows within themselves if they are going well or not. All things being equal, I will be there sprinting at the end.”
McEwen said that he’ll draw on his vast experience as a professional, staying close to the front but ensuring no energy is wasted until the explosion of the final sprint. Importantly, he said that the longer and tougher the race is, the more he felt that he’d come into the picture as a possible winner.
The RadioShack rider will be backed by a number of team-mates. They are Manuel Cardoso, Robbie Hunter, Geoffroy Lequatre, Dmitriy Muravyev, Yaroslav Popovych, Gregory Rast and Sébastien Rosseler