Last year’s surprise, now off the radar: How strong will Laurence Pithie be in Milan-San Remo?

This Saturday, Laurence Pithie will finally race his first European event of the year. The 22-year-old New Zealander spent the winter Down Under, and unlike last year—when he came to Europe for the Opening Weekend—this time he disappeared from the scene for a high-altitude training camp. During Tirreno-Adriatico, IDLProCycling.com posed the question: how strong will Pithie be in Milan-San Remo?

Pithie had a phenomenal breakout season in 2024 with Groupama-FDJ. He was in the breakaway in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, sprinted to two top-three finishes in Tirreno-Adriatico, placed 15th in Milan-San Remo, and animated the Flemish spring classics with a series of aggressive attacks. He wrapped up his campaign with a seventh-place finish in Paris-Roubaix, though the Giro d’Italia may have been a step too far, as he struggled with a knee issue.

However, Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe had seen enough and offered Pithie a three-year contract. The young classics specialist now forms a formidable unit within the German team alongside fellow new signing Oier Lazkano (from Movistar) and the Van Dijke brothers, Tim and Mick (from Visma | Lease a Bike). While those three have already made appearances in the Opening Weekend, Pithie opted for a high-altitude training block following his early season start at the Tour Down Under. As a result, he skipped both Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico.

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For Pithie, the spring begins in Milan-San Remo

"He’s in good shape. Hopefully, he can start in San Remo with his best legs right away," said Tim van Dijke optimistically during Tirreno-Adriatico. For the Dutchman, Pithie has been somewhat of a mystery over the past few months. Aside from a training camp in Mallorca in December, the New Zealander spent most of his time training independently in Australia and New Zealand. But it paid off, as he finished in the top five three times in the Tour Down Under and won the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.

Van Dijke won’t be racing Milan-San Remo and will only see Pithie a few days later at Classic Brugge-De Panne, where the team’s classics squad will come together for the first time. "They’ve already done some reconnaissance rides together, so that has helped build their understanding," team director Enrico Gasparotto pointed out. "We’ve known for a while that Laurence is good—he had an impressively consistent spring last year. He’s got a lot of talent, and after a high-altitude camp, he’s definitely ready to race."

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Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe counting on a strong classics squad

"It’s true that we haven’t spent much time together yet, so it will take some time to get used to each other," Van Dijke admitted regarding the different preparation paths among the team’s classics riders. "But it’ll come together—I have full confidence in that. Having a strong team atmosphere is crucial for the classics, and Laurence fits in perfectly. We’ve already scouted the races together."

That will be essential, as Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe aims to challenge the established names this spring as a team. Gasparotto added, "We’ll improve with every race. Of course, there are guys like Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert, who are on another level, but the only way to challenge them is with numerical superiority. With the riders we have now, we can play a significant role."

Bram van der Ploeg (Twitter: @BvdPloegg | email: [email protected])     

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