After a series of near-misses in Milan-San Remo, Team Bike Exchange-Jayco believes that the race strategy that Tadej Pogachar (UAE Team Emirates) and Primoš Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) will deploy in Saturday's race could be the key to team leader Michael Matthews could hit the jackpot on the streets of Rome, we believe.

It has been 10 years since Australia won La Primavera, since Matthews' former teammate, now retired Simon Gerrans, followed Matt Goss in 2011.

Since then, Matthews has had a "roller coaster" experience in Milan-San Remo, as he himself admits, with two third places in 2015 and 2020, a sixth last year, and a seventh in 2018 being his best performances.

However, team sport director Matt White believes that Logrich and Pogachar's race strategy for Saturday will indirectly benefit his top riders greatly.

"I think the big difference this year is the two Slovenians, Primoš Roglic and Tadej Pogačar," White said in a BikeExchange-Jayco press release on Thursday. [Because for Pogachar, it's too late to wait for Poggio.

"An aggressive San Remo is good for us. Michal doesn't want to sprint with the pure sprinters.

White confirmed that Team Bike Exchange Jayco's lineup in San Remo, which includes veteran lead-out man Luka Mezgec and newly signed 2022 rider Lawson Craddock, will exclusively support Matthews. White argued that the 31-year-old Matthews' stability in San Remo justifies the team's focus solely on the Australian sprinter.

Matthews himself recognized that while his years of experience in cycling's first monument of the season have varied, the race has not lost its appeal as a result. Nor did he feel that his recent crash at Strade Bianche would damage his prospects for this weekend.

"When I think back to the finish line on Via Roma in San Remo, a lot of memories come to mind from over the years. It was a roller coaster race for me," he said in the same press release.

"Milan-San Remo is a race that has always fascinated me since I started cycling.

"I think I suffered a little bit in Tirreno-Adriatico after my crash in Strade Bianche, but I'm still happy with the result.