This is a day that many cycling fans were awaiting, the first day of proper mountains of the season. The stage 5 of the Tirreno - Adriatico will finish in the very tough Monte San Vicino, with 11 kilometers averaging 7.3%. This is a test that only the climbers will be able to pass. However, the stage is much more than the final climb as there are 3,700 meters of cumulated climbing and the middle part of the stage has the tough climbs to Frontignano and Le Arette. All in all, the hardest day of the season so far.
The first categorized climb of the day was the Valico del Soglio, which although very gentle served to form the break of the day. It had 6 riders, including Simone Ponzi (LottoNL), Chris Anker Sorensen (Tinkoff), Wout Poels (Vacansoleil), Rinaldo Nocentini (Euskaltel) and Ian Stannard (Sky). HTC was controlling the peloton with Simon Clarke (HTC) doing most of the work at the front. The gap at the top of the climb was 1' 20'' but that already made Ponzi the virtual leader so they could not let the break take a lot of time. Nevertheless, they still had 147 kilometers to go.
The climb to Frontignano had its top with 99 kilometers to go. It was a very tough climb but the peloton did not think it was a good idea to push too hard yet and only a handful of riders dropped from the back. With entire kilometers above 10% gradient it could have been a key point had it been closer to the finish line. The break had 5' 45'' at the top and they had Pierre Rolland (Etixx), Tony Gallopin (IAM) and Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) as they had bridged the gap. Meanwhile, Cameron Meyer (Trek) started to collaborate with HTC and BMC.
The middle part of the stage was really hard as the climb to Frontignano was followed immediately by Le Arette. The break was causing a headache to the peloton as they had climbers like Rinaldo Nocentini, Pierre Rolland and Wout Poels. The bunch had to chase a bit harder and the gap was slowly decreasing to 5' 15''. Tony Martin (Lotto) joined the chase and the rate of riders that lost contact with the peloton increased considerably. Tony Gallopin was the first at the top of the climb but as there was no rider in the break accumulating points it seemed that Joost van Leijen (Giant) would comfortably win the KoM classification.
The penultimate climb of the day was Montelago, 46 kilometers from the finish line. Rinaldo Nocentini was first at the top but the big news is that a mechanical failure caused Laurens Ten Dam (Cannondale) to crash in the uphill and the peloton broke into 2 pieces, the other victim being Peter Stetina (BMC). The group of the leader was being led by Juanjo Cobo (HTC) and had a delay of 2' 35'' against the break. The group with Stetina and Ten Dam went over the top 4' 35'' behind the head of the race. Cannondale and BMC left several riders behind to help their leaders.
The terrain between the last two climbs was not flat as the riders faced the small hill of Castel Santa Maria. Peter Stetina had Julien Simon (BMC) and Ruben Plaza (BMC) helping him and they had left behind Laurens Ten Dam and the Cannondale riders. The Dutch seemed a bit injured after the crash. Meanwhile, Alexandre Vinokourov was the only riders at the front as he went solo in the climb. Emanuele Sella (Movistar), Wilco Kelderman (Giant) and Domenico Pozzovivo (Trek) had attacked on the group of the leader and had a few seconds over the group led by HTC.
The climb to Monte San Vicino was 11 kilometers long and with 10 to go the peloton was starting to close down on the leaders at that point: Simone Ponzi, Emanuele Sella, Alexandre Vinokourov and Tony Gallopin. They only had 25 seconds over Wout Poels and 35 seconds over the group of the leader. Robert Gesink (Ag2r) and Franco Pellizotti (BMC) had already tried to attack as soon as the road turned uphill but they could not open a gap as Juanjo Cobo was still setting a high pace, partly to defend Johan Vansummeren's (HTC) lead and partly to work for their real leader Andrew Talansky (HTC). Peter Stetina was already losing 3' 45''.
It was not long before they caught the early break and the attacks started to rain down on HTC. With 6 kilometers to go it was Michele Scarponi (Astana) who had managed to open a small gap, while Bauke Mollema (Vacansoleil), Jerome Coppel (Etixx) and Marco Pinotti (Sky) were trying to close the gap. HTC and Lotto were working at the front but their leaders, Andrew Talansky and Cadel Evans (Lotto) were going to have to show their faces rather soon. Nevertheless, there were still almost 70 riders in the group although it looked very close to disintegrate.
Andrew Talansky took the responsibility to chase with 3 kilometers to go as Michele Scarponi and Mathias Frank (IAM) had joined forces at the front of the race and had a gap of 25 seconds over the group. Cadel Evans was also progressing towards the front to collaborate in closing that gap. It was surprising to see that the leader, Johan Vansummeren, was still holding on but he really seemed about to break at any moment if the pace was increased. A few riders like Franco Pellizotti, Tiago Machado (Tinkoff) and Jose Serpa (Ag2r) had already been dropped.
Michele Scarponi attacked again as the group closed in and entered the last kilometer with a 13 seconds advantage over a chasing group of only 8 riders. Marco Pinotti was leading the chase but Cadel Evans, David Lopez and Mathias Frank were all reacting to the attack by the Italian. The gaps would be very small between these riders at the finish line but behind them there was a good distance. It was difficult to predict the actual order of the GC after the stage as it would all be within a few seconds between riders like Andrew Talansky, Hubert Dupont, Cadel Evans and David Lopez.
Michele Scarponi wins in Monte San Vicino! The Italian held off the chasers to win the Queen stage of the Tirreno - Adriatico. It was a rather surprising win as he was not among the handful of favorites to take the win but he attacked from quite far out and managed to hold on to his lead. His gap was a mere 9 seconds over Hubert Dupont and Cadel Evans, who took second and third. The French will be the new leader of the race as the rest of the front group crossed the finish line 18 seconds behind led by Marco Pinotti and Andrew Talansky.
This leaves a very open GC ahead of the time trial that will close the race. Dupont only has a 2 seconds advantage over Andrew Talansky and 6 over Cadel Evans. Both of them are much stronger against the clock than the French so he is not even the favorite to win the race given the small margins. Among those who lost time today we have Peter Stetina, losing in the end almost 3 minutes and Laurens Ten Dam, 6 minutes behind. Jean-Christophe Peraud (Discovery) was also quite disappointing today as he had a good chance in the GC.
The Queen stage of the Tirreno - Adriatico was followed by a much easier stage that run mostly alongside the coast of the Adriatic Sea. The stage was almost completely flat but the run down towards the finish line was a bit uphill. Therefore, it was not completely straight-forward to assume that this was going to be a mass sprint finish. The fatigue from yesterday's stage will also kick in for some riders. The wind might also be an issue in the stage as the forecast is predicting crosswinds for most of the stage when the road runs parallel to the sea.
The only climb of the day was very early in the day. The climb to Pollenza was the last that gave points in the Tirreno - Adriatico. However, it was not very interesting as Joost van Leijen (Giant) had already secured the KoM classification. The break of the day had already been formed and it included riders like Simon Gerrans (Trek), Ben Hermans (Katusha), Mauro Santambrogio (Sky), Arnaud Demare (Movistar) and Niki Terpstra (Cannondale). The peloton was not too convinced to let them go but with a gap of 1' 30'' they decided to sit back before the top of the climb.
There was a long stretch of the stage going south alongside the coast but even though the wind was quite strong there were no teams willing to make the race nervous and cause echelons. The first intermediate sprint was placed in Roseto degli Abruzzi, 72 kilometers from the finish line. Lloyd Mondory (Etixx) was quickest in the sprint of the group, beating Andre Greipel (Lotto) and Kenny van Hummel (LottoNL). The peloton was already closing the gap to the break, which had been as high as 8 minutes but was already down to 3' 30''. It was not long until the race turned to the right and further from the coast.
The break was eventually chased back just before the last passage through the finish line, with 12 kilometers to go. The peloton was being led by Tony Martin (Lotto), who is always a guarantee in flat stages, and we could also see Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL) and Thibaut Pinot (Etixx) working at the front. Even though they were a bit off the coast the wind was still strong and the peloton was very stretched and could break any minute. Also, David Lopez (Euskaltel) crashed a few kilometers before but could recover and the crash did not have consequences.
The final kilometers were very fast at the front of the bunch and LottoNL - Jumbo would have Simone Ponzi (LottoNL) to work for Kenny van Hummel. That would be a very strong lead out for the Dutch, especially as the road is always slightly uphill to the finish line. On the other hand of the road it was Enrico Gasparotto (Etixx) ready to work for Lloyd Mondory. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) was right behind and it was a favorable finish for him. Mark Renshaw (BMC), Andre Greipel and Alexander Kristoff were not far behind. The bad news for Euskaltel were that the peloton had broken in 2 and David Lopez had still was not close to the front.
Kenny van Hummel attacked with almost 2 kilometers to go instead of waiting to do a proper sprint. However, Lloyd Mondory had taken his wheel and he was in a much better position to take the stage win in Cepagatti. They had opened a small gap of 5 seconds over the rest of the group. Jose Joaquin Rojas was trying to close the gap but Andre Greipel and Mark Renshaw were also right behind. It would be difficult for them to close that gap in the last kilometer. Alexander Kristoff was also making good progress. Meanwhile, David Lopez looked set to lose time and his 4th position in the GC.
Kenny van Hummel was still leading Lloyd Mondory with 600 meters to go and it was clear that one of them would take the win today as they had increased the gap to their chasers to 13 seconds. Most of the job was being done by Kenny van Hummel so Mondory was in a perfect position to take the win. In the group behind Alexander Kristoff had taken the lead ahead of Jose Joaquin Rojas and Andre Greipel but they knew they were fighting for the 3rd position in the stage. The tail wind in the final sprint was probably compensating for the uphill and it did not help the peloton to bring the leaders back.
Kenny van Hummel wins in Cepagatti! It was and outstanding performance by the Dutch. He attacked with almost 2 kilometers to go and did most of the job dragging Lloyd Mondory behind but the French could not get around in the final meters of the stage. This is the 3rd win for Van Hummel this season, adding to the 2 he got in the Tour Down Under. Mondory was second and even if he read the move by Van Hummel perfectly he did not have the legs today. The group of the leader crossed the line 16 seconds behind led by Mark Renshaw, while Andre Greipel and Alexander Kristoff completed the top 5.
The final kilometers were quite interesting to watch after a day that was a bit dull. No one took advantage of the wind and it was then down to the sprint. The surprise in terms of the GC came from the crash involving David Lopez. The Spaniard looked a bit hurt as he crossed the finish line 4 minutes behind Van Hummel. He will most likely have a day off tomorrow as his teammate Hubert Dupont fights to keep the leader's jersey on his back.
Stage 7: San Benedetto del Tronto - San Benedetto del Tronto (ITT)
The Tirreno - Adriatico will finish with a time trial in San Benedetto del Tronto, as it has become a tradition in the last few years. The riders will go back and forth along the beach with the start and finish lines very close to each other. It has a total of 10 kilometers but the gaps can be considerable as it is completely flat, which will favor the specialists. The very close GC will contribute to the uncertainty about the outcome of the race as there is only a handful of seconds among the three top riders in the GC. Actually, Hubert Dupont cannot be considered the favorite even if he is wearing the blue jersey.
The first of the favorite to start today was David Millar (HTC). The European Champion was 68th in the GC before the start so he was only racing for the win in the time trial. Taylor Phinney (Discovery) had set a best time so far of 13' 27''. However, he had no option against Millar as the HTC rider improved his time by a massive 29 seconds. That made him the first rider to go below 13 minutes. This was a very good reference time as there were not many riders in the race that are on par with Millar in the time trials. It was also a good step for HTC towards trying to take the teams' classification.
Cameron Meyer (Trek) is the current time trial World Champion and was looking to add another win to his long tally of time trials. However, it was not his best day and could only take the 2nd provisional position. He was 19 seconds slower than David Millar, a very significant gap and a blow for him. Nevertheless, this time trial was quite short to gauge their form this season. Meyer's season has not been good so far as his attempt to get a good GC result at the Tour Down Under did not quite work. He will now take a break until the Vuelta al Pais Vasco.
Tony Martin (Lotto) started close behind Cameron Meyer. The German is slowly becoming one of the riders to follow in the time trials, even though he seems to be reaching the peak of his abilities at the age of 32. He did not manage to beat David Millar's time but took the 2nd position so far losing 18 seconds to the British. This is a confirmation of his progressive improvement. The Lotto riders might not be far from getting a breakthrough result.
We now jump to the riders that were fighting for the top positions in the GC. Jerome Coppel (Etixx) started the day in the 8th position in the GC but was looking to improve. The French did a very good time trial, getting the 5th provisional position only 19 seconds behind David Millar. This meant that he matched the time set by Cameron Meyer and none of the riders that started before him would overtake him in the classification. The closest, Levi Leipheimer (Trek), would finish the race more than 30 seconds behind.
Marco Pinotti (Sky) started right behind Jerome Coppel. The Italian knew that Sky was in need of a good result this season and even if the podium was a bit too far for him he is very good in time trials. He proved it by taking the 2nd position as he crossed the finish line. Pinotti was targeting to win a couple of positions in the GC and that result put him in that route considering that other riders in front of him before the stage are not that good against the clock. This will be his first important result in a GC for Sky.
The stage for Michele Scarponi (Astana) was not as easy as for the riders we have seen so far. He took the win in the Monte San Vicino but as a pure climber he was not looking forward to today's time trial. His performance was not very good but that was expected. When he crossed the finish line he took the 35th provisional time, 42 seconds behind David Millar. That was a bit of a hit for him as he dropped 3 places in the GC to Mathias Frank, Marco Pinotti and Jerome Coppel which would most likely put him in 8th at the end of the race.
The 4th in the GC before the stage was Tejay van Garderen (Trek). The American based his win in the Tour de France 3 years ago in the time trials but he does not like that much the short ones. Nevertheless, he was hoping for a podium at the end of the day or even to challenge for the overall win. He crossed the finish line 8th, 22 seconds behind Millar. That put him as the provisional leader in the finish line 9 seconds clear of Marco Pinotti. The remaining riders would have to fight hard to get past him.
Cadel Evans (Lotto) was the 3rd in the GC before the stage. He is very good against the clock so he said that his target was the overall win in the Tirreno - Adriatico. He could not beat Tejay van Garderen in the stage as he crossed the line in the 15th provisional place, 31 seconds behind David Millar. However, it was enough to stay ahead of the American in the GC. He only finished 3 seconds ahead in the overall but it was enough. Evans had the podium guaranteed, very good result after his disappointing Paris - Nice.
Andrew Talansky (HTC) was not one of the pre-race favorites but he reached the final stage being the favorite to take the overall win. He is a very good time trialist, as the silver medal in the 2015 World Championship proved. Today he was not that good but took the 11th provisional position, 28 seconds behind David Millar. It was more than enough to comfortably stay ahead of Cadel Evans in the GC. He was now waiting for Hubert Dupont (Euskaltel) to lose 2 seconds against him to take the overall win.
Hubert Dupont had the blue jersey before the stage started but as expected he was not able to defend it successfully. He lost 45 seconds against David Millar and more importantly enough time against the other favorites to lose the podium and finish in the 4th place overall. It is a shame for Dupont, who has not won a stage race since he took the 2010 Vuelta a España. Nevertheless, Dupont's performance in the Tirreno - Adriatico has been quite good, especially in the mountain stage.
In the end Andrew Talansky grabbed the overall win, his first in a stage race in his career. He will be joined in the podium by Cadel Evans and Tejay van Garderen. Tejay had already been 2nd in 2014 but has never been able to win a race that fits his characteristics quite well. It is worth noting that the 3 riders in the podium are very good against the clock, which suggests that the 2 time trials are not quite balanced with the only mountain stage in the route.
The Milano - Sanremo marks the arrival of the spring in the Ligurian coast and the riders typically enjoy the sun after the Passo del Turchino, halfway through the race. However, that is typically when the pace picks up in the 293 kilometers long race towards Sanremo. This is the monument for the sprinters or for the puncheurs that are able to open a small gap in the Poggio. However, this has been increasingly difficult in the recent years and the last winners we have seen are Simone Ponzi and Alexander Kristoff. It will be interesting to see whether anyone can surprise them this season.
The route is unchanged since last year and the climbs will be the typical in the last kilometers: the Capos will be followed by the Cipressa and the Poggio, which top is only 5.5 kilometers from the finish line at the Via Roma. No rider has been able to win twice in Sanremo yet but Kristoff would be a good bet to be the first rider to do it. There are also 2 riders that have been in the podium twice: Andre Greipel and Yauheni Hutarovich. However, it would be a big surprise if the Belarusian was able to repeat such a feat considering his results lately.
Favorites:
- Lloyd Mondory (Etixx - Quickstep): Mondory has started the season in a dominant fashion. He is the leader of the World Tour rankings thus far thanks to his win in the Tour Down Under and his good performances in the Paris - Nice, where he was on the podium, and the Tirreno - Adriatico. Therefore, even though he has not found success in the Milano - Sanremo in the past years he should be in the mix for the win this year. He is also keen on revenge from last year as he could not even get a top 10. He will need his team to bring him a bit closer to the front before the sprint.
- Kenny van Hummel (LottoNL - Jumbo): Van Hummel had a very good end of 2016 and 2017 has started in a similar way. The Dutch has already won three times this year: twice in the Tour Down Under and only a few days ago in the stage finishing in Cepagatti in the Tirreno - Adriatico. He is one of the best riders when it comes to the pure sprints. However, LottoNL might have also play the card of Simone Ponzi, who is a winner of the Milano - Sanremo. It will be interesting to see who the team supports depending on the race situation.
- Alexander Kristoff (Euskaltel - Euskadi): One of the sensations of the early season was witnessing how Alexander Kristoff managed to grab the overall win in the Paris - Nice, along with 2 stages. The Norwegian was not expected to survive the hills of the second part of the race but a combination of luck in the form of crashes of the favorites and very strong legs made him a surprise winner. He is also the defending champion of the Milano - Sanremo so given his season so far it might be that the best strategy for Euskaltel is to make the race as hard as possible in the Poggio.
- Andre Greipel (Lotto - Soudal): Greipel has been twice in the podium in Sanremo but has never been able to win yet. The German is a very strong sprinter but there are always doubts as to whether he is able to cope with the hills as good as other sprinters can. Nevertheless, Lotto brought him great support with teammates that are really strong in the flat. Sanremo would be a perfect place for him to take his first win of the season but Lotto might also play the card of Bjorn Leukemans in the hills before the finish. The Belgian is one of the few riders that will make the peloton worry.
Other riders with a shot at the podium are Ben Swift (Vacansoleil - DMC), Mark Renshaw (BMC Racing Team), Marcel Kittel (Astana Pro Team), Simone Ponzi (LottoNL - Jumbo), Tyler Farrar (Tinkoff) and Nacer Bouhanni (Ag2r - La Mondiale).
It is a sunny day for the Milano - Sanremo as the riders prepare for a very long day in the saddle. They will have 143 kilometers before the top of the Passo del Turchino, when they will have a sight of the Mediterranean Sea. However, it is likely that the race will not be decided until a final sprint in the Via Roma after the climbs to the Cipressa and the Poggio. The attacks have been scarce and unsuccessful in the past few years. There is no forecast of wind even though the riders will travel along the Ligurian coast for lots of kilometers.
It was not long in the stage when the break of the day took shape. It was only formed by 4 riders: Silvan Dillier (BMC), Moreno Moser (Sky), Martin Elmiger (Orica) and Pavel Brutt (Tinkoff). At the Passo del Turchino they had a gap of 10 minutes over the bunch but that was already coming down slowly. They had 150 kilometers to race so the peloton had plenty of time to catch them. Among the teams setting the pace in the peloton we could see most notably LottoNL, Etixx and Astana. The break was not too strong so they did not think they would have trouble.
The group was cutting the gap as they moved north along the coast. Most notably we could see Tim Wellens (Etixx), Luca Mezgec (LottoNL) and Davide Rebellin (Astana) leading the chase. With 79 kilometers remaining the gap had come down to 5' 15'' but they were not in a rush to bring them back as it would only encourage others to attack. All the sprinters were very close to the front of the group, especially after the couple of crashes that happened at the descent of the Passo del Turchino. That surely put all the favorites on guard.
There were attacks from outsiders much earlier than expected this year. Juan Antonio Flecha (Euskaltel) and Nick Nuyens (Lotto) attacked at the Capo Mele and triggered a reaction in the bunch. At the top of the Capo Berta, with 39 kilometers to go, they were already about to be caught. That increase in pace was bad for the break and their gap came down considerably to 1' 30'', which basically killed their chances in the race. Astana and Etixx had put 4 riders each to work at the front, even with important riders like Frank Schleck (Etixx) sacrificing themselves for their leaders.
It was clear that Euskaltel wanted to make the race as hard as possible and play all their cards as the next rider to attack was Greg van Avermaet (Euskaltel). The Belgian is a rider very well suited to the spring classics and was making it hard for the peloton to chase him. At the top of the Cipressa Moreno Moser was the leader of the race with a gap of 25 seconds over Van Avermaet. The peloton was 1' 10'' behind. Maarten Tjallingii (Etixx) was doing most of the climb at the bunch followed by Nick Nuyens and Frank Schleck. The race was much more interesting than in previous years so far.
Davide Rebellin had to take the lead of the peloton at the flat between the Cipressa and the Poggio. It was a difficult section for Greg van Avermaet and Moreno Moser and with 13 kilometers to go their gap had come down dramatically to only 15 seconds. It looked like all the favorites would start the Poggio together. However, the race had been considerably harder and the group was not as big as usual. LottoNL riders were making progress towards the front and we could see Simone Ponzi (LottoNL) and Sonny Colbrelli (LottoNL) among the top 10 riders in the group.
The climb to the Poggio was really interesting. There was a very serious attack that included Alexander Kristoff (Euskaltel), Ben Swift (Vacansoleil), Simone Ponzi (LottoNL) and Bernhard Eisel (LottoNL). However, Kristoff left them behind and got to the top of the climb with a 25 seconds gap over the group, which had eventually reeled back in the rest. David Rebellin did most of the climb at the front with Luca Paolini (Astana) protecting Marcel Kittel (Astana). It had been a very good effort to protect the German but Kristoff had a very good gap that could be definitive.
Alexander Kristoff entered Sanremo with the race almost won. He had a 45 seconds gap as the chasers had not found a good understanding. Not that the descent of the Poggio was the best place for a peloton chasing a lonely rider. It was a great display by the Norwegian, who was expected to wait for the final sprint to try to repeat his win in Sanremo. Meanwhile, Bernhard Eisel was leading the group but it was clear for all those involved that they would not be sprinting for the win as it was widely expected before the start of the monument.
The sprint for the 2nd place was very tight in the group. Bernhard Eisel had led the group until the last kilometer but instead of Kenny van Hummel (LottoNL) it was his teammate Simone Ponzi who was sprinting. The Italian is a good hills riders and the pace in the Poggio should help him in the final sprint. Ben Swift, Bjorn Leukemans (Lotto) and Marcel Kittel were the other rider that were close to the front of the group but many other were within shot of the 2nd place with a bit less than 1 kilometer to go. Meanwhile, Alexander Kristoff was already celebrating.
Alexander Kristoff wins in Sanremo! The Norwegian crosses the finish line at the Via Roma in the first position for the second year in a row. However, if last year he took the win in a sprint, this year he surprised a lot of people by attacking in the Poggio and riding alone to the finish line. That was quite something from Kristoff, who has clearly improved his climbing abilities this season and already took the overall win in the Paris - Nice a couple of weeks ago. Euskaltel did not want to wait for the sprint and they got the win in style.
The group crossed the line 39 seconds behind Alexander Kristoff. Marcel Kittel was the quickest in the sprint ahead of Andre Greipel (Lotto). This means that the podium of the race will be exactly the same as in 2016. It will be the 3rd time that Greipel is in the podium. Lloyd Mondory (Etixx) was 4th while Bjorn Leukemans completed the top 5 of the race. Mondory clearly has not quite managed to read the race well. He was the favorite and he did not have the legs to go with Kristoff in the Poggio or even the ability in the final sprint to grab a podium. One more year has gone by and he still has never finish in the podium of Sanremo.
