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Milano - San Remo Discussion Thread
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| Heine |
Posted on 11-11-2025 05:26
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4461
Joined: 08-04-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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Milano - San Remo. La Classicissima di Primavera. The first monument of the season and one of the most iconic races of the cycling world. One of the longest, if not the longest, race we will see this season with a total of 293,8 km. While the race is generally seen as a flat race we are going over some iconic hills like Cipressa and Poggio.
One of the races that has been part of the man game since the very start. 18 former editions has given us 16 different winners, including some of the biggest legends of the game, and many different rider types has been able to win. From pure sprinters, baradeurs, allrounders and puncheurs. The first mangame winner was the sprinter/puncheur Pozzato and you can say that last years winner Pidcock is like a modern version of him. Pozzato is also one of only 2 riders who has won this race twice, together with Sam Bewley. Talking about Sam several of the greatest cobble riders have been able to win here, not because of their cobble skills but as they have often been strong flat riders, like Summerhill and Ballan, or strong sprinters like Bewley and Boonen.
Last season Pidcock won after a late attack, first catching up to Toms Skuijns and then beating him in the end. With Mauri Vansevenant getting third
| Year | Winner | Runner-up | Third | | 2024 | PIDCOCK Thomas | SKUIJNS Toms | VANSEVENANT Mauri | | 2023 | EWAN Caleb | COQUARD Bryan | GAVIRIA Fernando | | 2022 | PEDERSEN Mads | SULIMOV Alexander | NYCH Artem | | 2021 | SUMMERHILL Danny | SANTOS Emerson | AREGGER Marcel | | 2020 | DEGENKOLB John | EWAN Caleb | ANDERSEN Soren Kragh | | 2019 | BOASSON HAGEN Edvald | GROENEWEGEN Dylan | DEMARE Arnaud | | 2018 | VAN DER LIJKE Nick | BEWLEY Sam | GROSU Eduard | | 2017 | VAN STAYEN Michael | ROELANDTS Jurgen | BEWLEY Sam | | 2016 | BEWLEY Sam | DEGENKOLB John | VAN STAYEN Michael | | 2015 | BEWLEY Sam | IGNATIEV Mikhail | BOASSON HAGEN Edvald | | 2014 | RICCO Riccardo | VAN GARDEREN Tejay | GILBERT Philippe | | 2013 | BOONEN Tom | BEWLEY Sam | BENNATI Daniele | | 2012 | ULISSI Diego | POZZATO Filippo | STEEGMANS Gert | | 2011 | BALLAN Alessandro | BEWLEY Sam | ANZA Santo | | 2010 | POZZATO Filippo | STEEGMANS Gert | BALLAN Alessandro | | 2009 | PELLIZOTTI Franco | SANCHEZ Samuel | RODRIGUEZ Joaquin | | 2008 | SANCHEZ Samuel | SCHUMACHER Stefan | BETTINI Paolo | | 2007 | POZZATO Filippo | BETTINI Paolo | GUTIERREZ José Ivan |
2024 results:
Spoiler
| 1 | Thomas Pidcock | Xero Racing | 6h27'48 | | 2 | Toms Skujins | Tinkoff Team - La Datcha | s.t. | | 3 | Mauri Vansevenant | Fastned | s.t. | | 4 | Alexey Lutsenko | Gazelle | s.t. | | 5 | Alexandr Ovsyannikov | Tryg - Eni | s.t. | | 6 | Dylan Groenewegen | Aker - MOT | s.t. | | 7 | Jasper Philipsen | Polar | s.t. | | 8 | Casper Pedersen | Tryg - Eni | s.t. | | 9 | Fernando Gaviria | Moser - Sygic | s.t. | | 10 | Roman Gladysh | Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska | s.t. |
Lets start with the obvious considering his win last year,  Pidcock is back and is of course one of the biggest favorites. He can win from a late attack, from a sprint both from the peloton or from a small group. He's one of those riders you have to get rid of before the end, or that even might be the one to get rid of you like last year. Runner up last year,  Skujins is also present, though on his decline. Tinkoff has build a strong team around him with several strong puncheurs to help him try the same tactic as last year with a strong late attack, if that dosen't work the team also sends Samolenkov to try to win from a sprint
Last year third place  Vansevenant is also back with a strong team, a good combination of rolours and puncheurs are here to help him get an even better position that last year and as he is now 26 years old he enters the part of his career where it is natural to talk about him as one of the favorites.
Looking away from last seasons top 3 there are some really strong puncheurs present.  Mohoric leads EA Vesuvio with a strong support squad that is all here for him. Los Pollos Hermanos has a team here to support Grande Duche winner  Higuita, a rider who might prefer harder climbs than what we got here, but if he can time his attack like he did in Luxembourg anything can happen. Other puncheurs who will look to decide this on Poggio or Cipressa is  McCarthy,  Kinoshita,  Romo, Bagioli and  Müller. We could also mention Buchmann, but I believe this race is just a bit too long for him
Some of the worlds best sprinters are also present, and maybe the best of them all is  Gaviria. If there is a big peloton at the finish everyone will be looking at him, and he should be one of the sprinters who are able to sit with the pack the longest.  Demare is the rider who most likely feels that he should've won this race at least once and this might be his last chance. His best result is third back in 2019.  Groves,  Ackermann and  Girmay are other sprinters who can both survive hills and the lenght here and can this be dangerous if they manage to stay in the lead group. There are also the purer fastmen like  Cullaigh, Farantakis, Philipsen,  Kanter and many more. If the group stays together this could be a total carnage in the sprint, every sprinter feeling this is their chance to get into the history books!
 Pedersen and Vermeersch are the classic riders in the mold of Boonen and Bewley who can continue their legacy, and Pedersen already did that in 2022. With their flat skills, stamina and sprint they could very well end up at the top of the podium.
Talking about strong flat riders Aker is here with the pair of Konychev and Andersen. They can very well end up surpising everyone with their power! Other flat riders to look up for are  Kurianov and  Per, rider who could well have the legs on the last flats to attack!
Considering the lenght of the race we should look up for the riders with the best stamina aswell, and  Evenepoel really pops out among them, strong flat, strong hill and awesome stamina might put him in the perfect position.  Aleotti and Gaudu are other riders who can really excel by having more power at the end than others.
All in all we have an extremely strong field, with many riders who got different ways and strategies to win. This should once again be one of the most exciting races of the season!
Startlist
Edited by Heine on 11-11-2025 06:18
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| redordead |
Posted on 11-11-2025 06:52
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Team Leader
Posts: 5511
Joined: 18-10-2017
PCM$: 200.00
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Sanremo is always unpredictable let alone what this PCM version will spit out. Between Philipsen and Ackermann we are in need of a decent points haul here.
Thanks for the preview.
"I am a cyclist, I may not be the best, but that is what I strive to be. I may never get there, but I will never quit trying." - Tadej Pogačar
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| knockout |
Posted on 11-11-2025 07:05
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8234
Joined: 21-12-2010
PCM$: 500.00
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No expectations whatsoever
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 11-11-2025 07:49
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World Champion
Posts: 11621
Joined: 17-12-2014
PCM$: 1120.00
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Pidcock a guy that can always come anywhere in this one depending how the race shakes out. Given that we hit the top possible performance in that range last year I am not expecting such an outcome to be repeated, but still very excited to see how he goes about trying to repeat 
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant."
[PT]  Xero Racing
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 11-11-2025 08:50
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 15024
Joined: 08-08-2011
PCM$: 11500.00
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Bonifazio can't climb and De Plus can't sprint. Any points would be great already.
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| jt1109 |
Posted on 11-11-2025 09:01
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3484
Joined: 23-07-2008
PCM$: 600.00
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Very interested to see how this goes though not selective i remeber seeing a lot of Poggio attacks sticking (50/50) so this should be a really fun race to read and one of the few were literally anything could happen |
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| DubbelDekker |
Posted on 11-11-2025 09:21
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2793
Joined: 20-04-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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Hope Aleotti and Malecki can sneak into good positions. Our top 10 chances are pretty slim.
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 11-11-2025 10:41
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 9137
Joined: 13-03-2013
PCM$: 2100.00
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I'd love Cherkasov or Per to do a madness here.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 05-12-2025 11:59
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| ember |
Posted on 11-11-2025 10:44
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Team Leader
Posts: 7057
Joined: 27-03-2008
PCM$: 900.00
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Groenewegen did well here last year for us, so I decided to drop him this year  Gambling on leaving him out makes Kragh and/or Konychev our leader, with Romo hopefully getting positioned well before Cipressa/Poggio «for free» due to having Kragh and Konychev here. If so, the hope is Romo can try to follow anything going uphill in a free role, while Kragh and Konychev get to truly lead us, be it try a late move or even go for the sprint.
The dream is always to win here, but admittedly there are not many scenarios we can win. It must be a late attack by Kragh or Konychev, I guess. Fingers crossed!
Very excited for the report, the first monument and everything that comes with it And thank you for the preview, Heine. |
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| roturn |
Posted on 11-11-2025 11:38
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Team Manager
Posts: 22043
Joined: 24-11-2007
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On paper Vansevenant got stronger this season, his support here is stronger than last year...but seeing how he performed so far, I feel like he won`t be as aggressive anymore, which was key to his success.
Hopefully a classic can prove me wrong and he still joins Pidcock and co. to make it a tough race.
With how the season started so far, I feel, it`s more a sprinter race. |
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 11-11-2025 11:51
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World Champion
Posts: 13559
Joined: 05-08-2008
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We are covered by Aniolkowski in a sprint, but I'd rather see Remco or Gerts go on the attack.
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| Bikex |
Posted on 11-11-2025 12:20
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Team Leader
Posts: 7385
Joined: 25-08-2012
PCM$: 600.00
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No gidich here this time so all-in for Hsu in the sprint. Thanks for the extensive preview Heine |
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| ryant |
Posted on 11-11-2025 12:30
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2388
Joined: 15-08-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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Let's keep things all together for the sprint shall we?
All in for Cullaigh with Kemboi once again being his lead out, fingers crossed it works as I've left Yates at home this time as I don't think he would have forced a selection regardless...
 John St Ledger in Team Bunzl-Centrica and Team U25Red Bull Driver in RFactor
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 11-11-2025 13:50
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 16552
Joined: 27-07-2011
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Rodenberg hasn't shown any kind of ability to survive tougher finishes this year, so we're all in on a Per late attack or something here. Hopefully we sneak a few depth points, because that's all I can hope for.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 11-11-2025 14:04
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 12680
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1961.50
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Hoping Kulikovskiy can survive the hills and get a decent finish. Hoping Cherkasov can also show himself towards the end of the race and pull off something special.
Thanks for the preview!
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 11-11-2025 20:02
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 5234
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Schmid broke Groves' race last year and in the end didn't care himself, so he stays home. Groves has been awful this year so far, maybe time to get some redemption here...
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| SotD |
Posted on 11-11-2025 20:45
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World Champion
Posts: 12630
Joined: 29-11-2006
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Despite having reasonable outings in both scenarios, I don't have many expectations. We have very solid experiences from the past though, so it's always a race we look forward to.
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| tastasol |
Posted on 11-11-2025 22:15
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3030
Joined: 11-09-2010
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After some good editions for us, we haven't really managed to shake it up the last few years. Hopefully Pedersen can roll back the years and try to get away before the sprint starts.
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| Nemolito |
Posted on 12-11-2025 08:07
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3837
Joined: 20-04-2020
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Thanks for the great preview, Heine.
Sent Higuita and Halvorsen here last year, the latter was no success and the former had a very badly timed puncture. So decided to give him another chance in this less important season for the team results-wise, let's see what he can make from it 
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| OlegTinkov |
Posted on 12-11-2025 09:10
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2773
Joined: 31-12-2007
PCM$: 450.00
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Finally back online and just in time for the first Monument of the season. Thanks for the preview Heine, may the best race-day condition win!
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PTM Milano - San Remo 
