Hello, and welcome to the preview of Milano – Sanremo, a major WT one-day race in Italy. For some cycling fans, this is the most important day of the season, though some prefer the cobbles or the queen stage of the TdF. But let’s not argue about what’s the most important race, let’s just enjoy it, shall we?
Milano – Sanremo, or, La Primavera, has a big history. It was held for the first time in 1907, when Lucien Petit-Breton won it. Fun fact, while every race was longer in distance by-then, MSR was actually shorter(275km) in 1907. Nearly every 1907 TdF stage was longer.
A lot of cycling fans know the hills of La Primavera by heart. La Mania, Cipressa, Poggio, I’m pretty sure these names ring you any bells. The question is, will the sprinters survive these named hills?
Milano – Sanremo is traditionally a battle of sprinters vs puncheurs. It happens often that the sprinters win, but puncheurs definitely stand a chance in this famous race. It’s definitely going to be an exciting race.
Last Year
While 2010 was a mass sprint(Freire), and 2011 was won by a sprinter as well(Goss), MSR 2012 was different. It was another Aussie, Simon Gerrans won the edition last year.
He escaped from the reduced peloton along with Nibali & Cancellara. They just managed to stay ahead of the peloton, and Gerrans managed to win the 3-men sprint by an half wheel ahead of Cancellara. Sagan was the first from the peloton to finish, just 2 seconds behind the winner!
The Profile
Well, here’s the famous profile, this route is going to be ridden this year. Too much climbing to make this an easy one for the sprinters, but too few climbs to make this one for the puncheurs. It’s always interesting to see what kind of race it will be.
One thing is sure, it’s going to be a long one. With 293km, this race is normally the longest one of the season. The hills that will make the difference are probably the ones that you know best. The Cipressa, with the top located 20km from the finish, is 5,8km of climbing on an average slope of 3,5%. After that, there’s the Poggio, located around 7km from the finish. This one is crucial, even though it’s only 3,8km on 3,3% average. A nice downhill follows, where guys like Nibali & Cancellara may take profit from.
The Startlist
That is of course an amazing startlist, but what’d you expect? The strongest sprinters in the world are lined-up today. Also, some very strong puncheurs, but obvious misses are Purito and Valverde, which I would consider the best puncheurs. Valverde would even have a good finish sprint, so I really think Movistar made the wrong choice here.
Anyway, except the stage-racers, we have the strongest cyclists in the world here. OPQS have taken a great team with them here, with the other ‘top’ teams a bit lacking. Belkin, BMC, Garmin, FDJ & Sky have taken some strong teams with them as well.
The Favourites
Finally, the favourites. It all depends of how this race pans out, since it could either be the puncheurs or the sprinters who win this one, while Cancellara, who isn’t among one of these groups, should have a shot on revenge for his second place last year as well. The favourite is probably Sagan, being all-in-one, both a great sprinter and a puncheur. Cancellara is a good second choice, the master of the late attacks. Of the good sprinters, I expect Kittel, Brookes & Hanzen having the most trouble with the combination of the distance and the hills.
P.Sagan(CAN)
F.Cancellara(RLT)
M.Cavendish(OPQ)
V.Nibali(AST)
A.Greipel(LTB)
T.Boonen(OPQ)
P.Gilbert(BMC)
J.Degenkolb(ARG)
Other guys with good chances: M.Kittel, M.Kwiatkowski, W.Brouwer, A.Kristoff, D.Martin, S.Gerrans, R.Costa, D.Cervero, A.Ballan, E.Gasparotto,
Spoiler
Note, it was really hard for me to decide on the favourites, I could’ve given about 15 riders 1 star
(CAN)
(RLT)
(OPQ)
(AST)
(LTB)
(OPQ)
