Mathieu van der Pol was a surprise addition to the start list, as the illness that has struck the peloton in recent weeks has forced many key riders to miss the Milan-San Remo race.

The Dutchman, who is returning to road racing after rehabbing from a long-standing back injury, was moved up to Saturday's La Classissima after several of his Alpecin Phoenix teammates were absent due to illness.

Ahead of the start of the 293-km race on the historic Vigorelli Velodrome, van der Pol said he had only received the call two days before the race.

"It's actually two days before. It's actually two days before," he said to a crowd of reporters gathered at the start of the race.

"Gianni [Vermeersch] got sick, and Robert Stannard got sick this morning. It was a difficult decision because normally we would have restarted at Coppi e Bartali.

"But after a while I decided to go here to see what I could do without the pressure."

Despite his insistence on running without pressure, many eyes in and out of the peloton focused on Van der Pol during the race.

With current champion Jasper Stuyven, world champion Julien Alaphilippe, Paris-Roubaix champion Sonny Colbrelli, and 2021 runner-up Caleb Yuan all absent due to illness, Van der Poel is in the spotlight regardless of his debut form.

The 27-year-old said before his third appearance in Milan-San Remo that his physical condition is a question mark, not only for himself, but for others as well.

"It's a question mark for me too," he said. 'I feel pretty good in training, but training is not racing. But training is not racing. I have a free role again today, so we'll see how the race plays out."

Van der Pol was positive when asked about the back problems that plagued him since the middle of last season and caused him to miss nearly the entire 2021-22 cyclocross season.

"No problems at all," he said. I still feel something after a hard workout, but on the bike it's perfectly fine. It's not holding me back anymore, so I hope it continues to evolve in a positive way."

Wout Van Aert (Jumbo Visma), Van der Pol's longtime rival and one of the favorites to win the Via Roma, said he was happy to be back in the race. The Belgian added that he believes van der Pol can get a result in his first race of the season.

"We are happy that he is back, especially for the cycling world," he said. When he started training, everyone believed he would be back for the spring season. I believe he can ride really well in San Remo."