jyl

Oh boy oh boy oh boy - Milan-San Remo is just around the corner!

And the sandbagging is well under way e.g. Cavendish uncertain ahead of Sanremo - VeloNews.com

There is only about 7 km from the top of the Poggio to the finish line. How far behind do you reckon a sprinter can be, when he crests the Poggio, and still be able to contest the sprint?

Leinster

15 seconds is the biggest time gap given here; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL3jQmkj3uI

jyl

Okay, who is everyone's pick to win Milan-San Remo? And why?

canam73

Wait, who won? I thought there were gonna be spoilers.

Leinster

There will be. After the race. Tomorrow.

Jakedatc

Degenkolb... man he sprints ugly but gets it done haha

quite a bit of carnage on those last few descents.. that Sky guy hit hard oww. i don't think crashing on your face is a good way to block for your guys to try a breakaway

last 2 hills never disappoint.. they had it floored. good race

jyl

I was wondering what happened to Cavendish. Somewhere on the Cipressa he disappeared. Now turns out his chain dropped again. Like it did for Cavendish in the Tirreno sprint, like it did for Boonen earlier this season. Arrrgh. The mixed groupset that EQS is using is turning into a disaster.

I never even saw Degenkolb before the last 200 meters, he hid himself so well. Of course I was watching on a friend's internet connection with a whopping 2 Mb/s download speed. So the image was pretty blocky.

Leinster

I had the same blocky connection at home, but yeah, Degenkolb was literally invisible until he flew past Kristoff. I don't even remember seeing a Giant rider on the front, though the commentators mentioned them being part of the chase a couple times.

I thought Sky and BMC had both ridden a perfect race until the top of the Poggio, getting their punchers out front and setting things up for their fast men, but then Gilbert crashed and Swift messed up his positioning in the final straight and got boxed in.

Jakedatc

I thought Sagan had a good shot but he burned a match on one of those mini breaks near the end that cost him some oomph at the sprint.

Ciolek's helmet toss was pretty sweet.. then dragged his rear derailleur around for good measure.

WCroadie

I wouldn't say Degenkolb flew past Kristoff, he only beat him by 3/4 of a bike length.
That was a great finish, very exciting, I thought Kristoff was gonna go back to back, so close.

BMC was racing great, the hell with Sky, bunch of dopers. Thomas is a Pursuit track rider and he's attacking uphill? And if you saw Paris Nice, Porte and Thomas rode away from everyone in an uphill finish. They are the just like the Postal team, full of dope.

jyl

Race organizer says no more messing with the course. The race will stay with this course and this finish, no additional climbs will be inserted. That's good.

hueyhoolihan

wouldn't be a bad idea to shorten the course a bit. as it is (i watched the last 100KM) there's not much to it until the last 10 minutes. so i suggest about three 60K loops. they can call it the San Remo-San Remo-San Remo.

DiabloScott

The length of this race is what makes it a monument. 300km softens the legs of the best sprinters and breakaway artists and that's what makes the winner worthy of the trophy.

There's a lot of De Ronde where nothing tactical happens either... but the bergs wouldn't be the same without the first 100km from the north.

skyrider

I get it why this race is a big deal. What a final 20km, the descending climbing, set up for a sprint, and it was balls out, pedal to the metal. Watched the replay a few times just great sport...

Leinster

It'd be nice if the Turchino offered more of a strategic importance, but it just seems to be a speedbump, there isn't nearly the urgency to be in the mix that there is with the Arenberg Forest, which is at a kinda similar mid-point in Roubaix. The Cipressa and Poggio are enough to make the last 40km interesting, but with 90kms of nothing from the Turchino descent to the Capos, it's all about just hiding in the bunch for the first 5 hours.

Wouldn't want to change anything about the race, though. The climbers have Liege and Lombardy, the sprinters have San Remo, and the crazies have Roubaix and Flanders.

Is there anyone riding today who can compete in all 5 monuments? Gilbert is probably closest, but he came 52nd in his one attempt at Roubaix. Canc and Boonen have never even attempted Liege or Lombardy. Sagan, for all his climbing ability, has never entered Liege and has 1 dnf at Lombardy.

hueyhoolihan

the Dec-athalon has devolved into the Tri-athalon. the writing is on the wall for generalists in sport.

even the thought of expanding the idea is preposterous. imagine the duo-dec-athalon. they would probably have to include things like curling and shuffleboard i suppose.

OTOH, there is the track cycling version called the Omnium, so not all is lost. but they are riding the same bikes on the same track. they are just moving the pieces that are the rules around on the plate a bit though.