As one of the strongest riders in the mountains, Mauro Santambrogio commanded a lot of attention in this year’s Tirreno Adriatico. The Vini Fantini signing was second behind Chris Froome (Sky) on the queen stage to Prati di Tivo, was fourth on stages five and six, and ended up seventh overall in the general classification.
Following that performance - which was a step up from the level he had shown previously - his team manager Luca Scinto suggests that he could be one of the protagonists in Sunday’s Milan-Sanremo, where he will undoubtedly look to the climbs to try to make a decisive move.
“Sunday on Poggio,” said Scinto, “there I hope to see the Yellowfluo jersey of Mauro as a protagonist. With Santambrogio, I'm sure he could be the surprise, the outsider of Sanremo, which promises to be exciting".
The 28 year old has raced with a number of teams during his career, spending three years with the BMC Racing Team prior to moving to Vini Fantini over the winter. In 2009 he won the Tre Valli Varesine and so, had he beaten Froome on the Prati di Tivo, it would have been his first victory in four years.
Scinto seems to feel that his rider has moved to a new level, but says that he has not received the attention that he deserved. “I understand that at the journalistic level that it is the big names which make the news but, in my opinion, Santambrogio has done a very good race.
“I think that we did not have much space [in the media], but anyone who has seen the race will have noted, however, that, if we put aside Nibali who won, Santambrogio was the best of Italian cyclists. He has gathered a respectable place in overall classification in the midst of renowned names, the best in world cycling.”