At the finish line of the 2022 edition of the race, a victorious Mohorič proudly exclaimed that he'd "destroyed cycling, now everyone will use a dropper post," following his decision to run a dropper seatpost on his road bike.
Dropper posts are more commonly found in mountain biking, and by dropping the saddle they allow riders to lower their centre of gravity, and move the bike more easily beneath them in order to take tighter turns with more grip, and thus, at higher speeds.
The Slovenian had just won his first cycling Monument, having taken advantage of the increased manoeuvrability offered by the component to attack on the descent of the Poggio climb a few kilometres before the finish. Known already for his exceptional bike handling skills, the 28-year-old pushed his Merida Scultura to the limits, surviving a couple of near misses on the way down before soloing to the finish line and holding off a chase group by just two seconds.
Given that success, it's perhaps unsurprising to see that Mohorič is set to use the dropper post once again at Milan-San Remo in 2023.
At the start of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, one of Mohorič's Bahrain Victorious mechanics told Cyclingnews that the Slovenian will use "more or less the same set-up" as last year. Mohorič himself was more coy, however, responding to our question with "if you come to Milan, you'll see."
🤔 @matmohoric’s Garmin is back?#RideAsOne pic.twitter.com/SYn4xvlb6FMarch 3, 2023
What is more intriguing, however, is the timing of the social post. Shared on the eve of Strade Bianche, the post focuses on Mohorič being reunited with a Garmin head unit after his own was stolen at the finish of Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne on Sunday, but in the video, Mohorič's bike is clearly equipped with the dropper post already.
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“I think I could well use the dropper seatpost tomorrow,” Mohorič confirmed to Cycling Weekly in response to the video. “There are some tricky sections and I feel more secure with it. I never achieved a top ten here before, there was always something that went wrong. I sure hope to get everything right this time.”
Nobody currently makes a dropper post with anything other than a round cross-section, and given most road bikes nowadays use aero seatposts, the ubiquitous use predicted by Mohorič hasn't yet become reality. Even Mohorič's bike for Opening Weekend, for example, was the Merida Reacto aero bike with a standard 'aero' seatpost.
Matej Mohorič's Merida Reacto from Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The fact that Bahrain Victorious's bike sponsor, Merida, uses a round seatpost on its Scultura race bike is what makes it possible to run a dropper post at all.
It does come with a small weight penalty, though, and it might be considered a faux pas to add weight, given Strade Bianche finishes with a steep ascent into the Piazza Del Campo in Siena. However, Mohorič believes the race could be decided earlier. “I think the main selection will be made in Monte Sante Marie, and then we will see how the final will play out. I don’t necessarily think I need to anticipate the final ramp to Siena, it all depends on how I feel during the day.”
Josh is Associate Editor of Cyclingnews – leading our content on the best bikes, kit and the latest breaking tech stories from the pro peloton. He has been with us since the summer of 2019 and throughout that time he's covered everything from buyer's guides and deals to the latest tech news and reviews.
On the bike, Josh has been riding and racing for over 15 years. He started out racing cross country in his teens back when 26-inch wheels and triple chainsets were still mainstream, but he found favour in road racing in his early 20s, racing at a local and national level for Somerset-based Team Tor 2000. These days he rides indoors for convenience and fitness, and outdoors for fun on road, gravel, 'cross and cross-country bikes, the latter usually with his two dogs in tow.
