Slovenian champion Matej Mohoric's victory in Milan-San Remo last weekend has Bahrain winning road captain Heinrich Haussler thinking "anything is possible."

The 38-year-old Mohoric did not compete in Milan-San Remo, but will compete in Wednesday's Classic Brugge-De Panneh as the spring cobbled classic season looms. He will team up with Mohoric in the E3 Saxo Bank Classic on Friday.

Haussler, a former runner-up in San Remo and the Tour de Flanders, has ridden with Mohoric for the past four years and has watched him develop into a monument-winning rider.

"In my eyes, Matej seems capable of anything.

"He developed COVID-19 after Valenciana, had a bad fall at Strade Bianche, missed Tirreno-Adriatico and could not train properly. I can't believe it.

"Matej, in my eyes anything is possible.

Mohoric's preparation for Milan - Sanremo was questionable, but Haussler knew exactly how well prepared he was.

"He told me two months ago," he said of the famous dropper post that helped Mohoric plunge down Poggio and finish alone on Via Roma.

"He told me exactly what he was going to do and which corner he was going to hit the front. I didn't know what his form was like, but I was watching him on TV and waiting for the camera to pan over. When I saw him at the top of Poggio ...... I was cocky, or cocky, or cocky, but at that point I knew he was going to win."

But there were a few hot-mouthed moments as Mohoric took every conceivable risk to maximize his advantage, bunny-hopping out of a gutter or correcting a step that nearly crashed through someone's front door.

"He was all-in, and I think he needs some luck, but he's a freak. He had a plan and he executed it, not 100 percent, but 1,000 percent. I was overjoyed for him."

In the absence of Sonny Colbrelli, who was taken to the hospital with a heart condition after the opening stage of the Volta a Catalunya on Monday, Mohoric took full control of the cobbled classic, the Bahrain Victorious.

"Matej is like the brains of the team, always thinking about how to go faster, aero, tubeless tires, tire pressure ...... and he is always thinking about these things. But he's really just a normal guy, totally normal," Haussler said."

In the past, the Slovenian has been accused of using power in the wrong place, launching fatalistic attacks as if out of boredom. Haussler, however, is keen to see Mohoric become natural and not lose his instinct for attack altogether.

"He really stepped up last year and now he's stepping up again. He's learned from his mistakes, he's smarter, more mature. That's part of the game," Haussler said.

"I was the same way when I was younger. If I had good legs, I wanted to attack. I just wanted to race. I'm a racer, I'm not just there to sit in the peloton and make up the numbers. With Matei, a lot of people say, "What are you doing?" A lot of people say, "Well, he's a racer, he's a licensed racer, he can do anything he wants.

And that extends to winning all kinds of bike races. As the cobbled races begin and the Tour de Flanders comes into view, Haussler said, "With Matej, anything is possible in my eyes.