Almost perfect conditions for La Classicissima this year: no wind and no rain (at least at the start). So no excuses.
As said prior to the race, the question is, wether the three sprinting B's (Boonen, Bewley, Bennati) will once again have the power to survive the Poggio at the very front or not. Will the puncheurs strike back after last year's first MSR without one of them taking the victory?
The attacking starts just a few seconds after the peloton left Milan and it ain't really surprising to see at least two teams without higher ambitions/favorite trying to go for breakaways:
Only a few kilometres later, two more riders try to catch up to those four, who are just 30" in the lead though:
Irvine and Thire
The group struggled to establish a decent gap though and with now just 10km into the race, the first escapees have been swallowed by the peloton already.
Except of Viviani though, who gives it another go now!
He's joined by Quintana and also Irvine, who launches another move as well.
Only Broers tried to join this group later, but he failed to catch up and was reeled in by the bunch then.. Group Viviani/Quintana/Irvine though was allowed to stay clear:
and with now 220km remaining, the race settles down. The break of the day leads by 6'50" and may face a long day at the very front of the race.
No more action until the "Passo del Turchino", which now awaits the peloton. The gap went up to 10 minutes in the meantime, but some teams (Pokerstars, Aker-NOT, Vesuvio and Pendleton's) now show it's colors at the front of the peloton. And the pace is higher as well, so the pursuit may just begin.
It started to rain, which is never good news when a rather long descent awaits a now higher pacing peloton:
first to crash on slicky roads is local hero Gatto! The hilly sprinter hits the turf with still 134km to go, but the team has to hope for him not being injured or influenced in another way.
The next crash happens on the next descent from "La Manie" (with the rain already stopping in the meantime): Pavarin went down on a tricky descent.
Just as Gatto, he will manage to catch up to the peloton, which narrowed the gap to the leading trio to 4'44" with now just 81km to go.
The three escapees keep fighting to hold on to their lead though. We already entered the final 50km of the race and the gap is down to 2'50".. when is the "real" action to begin today?
Now! Maybe.. Caruso attacks the peloton 40km before finish and with three climbs ahead. It may be a tactical move by GoodEnergy, which is definitely worth a try. Ponzi is the undisputed leader for the race, but Caruso may put some pressure on other teams that way.
37km remaining and Caruso already faces a tough time establishing a bigger gap, as the peloton keeps pacing hard. Also the early escapees ain't to far in front now and the first riders (34) have been dropped by the main bunch (no notable names involved).
The leading trio leads by 43" on Caruso, who's just 15" ahead of the bunch.
And that's it for Caruso. With now 30km to go, the Italian is reeled in by the peloton, where Becherovka and Pokerstars lead the chase.
The break of the day seems to be pulled back soon, but we see another attack (Aker-MOT) at the fron of the pack!
Kruijswijk tries to solo away now! Not exactly a favorite for today's race, the Dutch may either hope for the bigger teams underestimating his attempt or to help one of his captains (Hagen maybe?) later in the race..
Not much reason to talk about his move anyway: just a few moments later, both him and the early escapees have been pulled back by the peloton!
The pack enters the "Cipressa" alltogether (except of this bigger group being dropped earlier), so with now 25km remaining, it's an open race again.
No attack on the "Cipressa" and the so far dominating teams keep pacing:
Pokerstats and Becherovka lead the bunch into the final 20km..
It's an uneventful race until the famous "Poggio"! No more rider tried to attack, but will we see at least some puncheurs launching a move on the Poggio now with 8.5km to go?
Gilbert at least shows himself at the very front, with still Pokerstars and Becherovka right behind.. where are the other big guns?
Well, here is Ricco! The local hero is the first favorite to attack on the climb (8km before finish) and he quickly opens up a small gap on the bunch, where Gilbert doesn't really seem to be in attacking mode..
We would love to cover more action behind Ricco, but it's still Gilbert leading the bunch up the Poggio.. with now 6.6km to go, Ricco established a 22"-gap on those 142 riders, but at least the positioning will be another key question now as the race enters the crucial moments..
So with 5km to go for still solo-leading Ricco (29" in the meantime), let's have a look at the situation at the front of the now chasing peloton:
Hagen, Bewley, Kluge/Boonen, Roelandts, Gilbert, Impey, Summerhill/Van Garderen and also Ponzi enter the descent to San Remo at the very front of the pack.
So mostly sprinters already fighting for a good position, with Boonen still knowing a helper at his side.
3km and Ricco holds on to his 29"-gap! The battling for good positions in the bunch continues and it's a quite chaotic situation with changing positions here and there:
most notable names moving forward are Reimer, who caught up to Hagen in the meantime! Also Impey found his way to the very front now! Aker with a promising duo there.
Swift tries to follow Impey, overtaking Boonen and Bewley that way.. Burghardt is a new name in the mix, as well as Ulissi..
May this be the just the fight for the runner-up today? Too early to say, but Ricco fights hard and maintains a 26"-advantage on the bunch (112 riders, by the way) with now only 2km to go!
For the better overview, of what's happening 26" behind Ricco, we may have one or two final looks at who's in the most promising positions at the front of the pack:
Hagen
Reimer
Impey
Swift
Gilbert
Bewley
Boonen
Roelandts
Ponzi
Pozzato
Howard (who tried to help his captain Bewley after fighting his way back to the front) and Kluge now suffer from their domestique-efforts, so they won't be in the mix eventually.
Ricco already entered the final kilometre and as the bunch sprint kicks off now, he still holds on to his 26"-gap!
New situation at he front of the peloton, where Impey goes with an impressive acceleration:
Ricco
26"-gap
Impey
Hagen
Reimer
Gilbert
Bewley
Roelandts
Swift
Boonen
Summerhill
Ponzi
Van Garderen
Pozzato
So Boonen seems to suffer, or is it just a "slow start"? He may just decide wether to stay behind Swift or switch to Bewley/Roelandts now.. Gilbert still impressive, trying to hang on with Hagen/Reimer.. Van Garderen moving forward to join the mix.
It's quickly getting closer for Ricco as the gap goes down to 14" just as the bunch is under the kite!
Impey loses speed as fast as he accelerated! And it's teammate Hagen in the leading position again, head-to-head with a stunning Reimer now!
Bewley now tries to move to this right side, leaving Roelandts alone on the left.. Van Garderen and Ponzi also in full-mode now, moving forward to catch up to Gilbert!
600metres to go for Ricco, who's desperately fighting his way to the line! A thrilling finish it will be, that's for sure.. will he bring back the 2012-title for his team Festina?
Let the pictures tell the story for the battle a few metres behind...
It's getting closer and closer for Ricco, as Hagen is still in the leading position with now less than 10" in arrears.. it's also a stunning head-to-head fight behind the World Champion, as it becomes more and more clear, who's going to be in the mix for the podium:
Van Garderen, Ponzi, Gilbert, Reimer, Bewley and also Boonen, who found his speed again!
But maybe too late for the defending MSR-champion: Ricco still holds on to a small gap with the line approaching and Boonen also struggles to move into a Top-3-position. Same goes for Bewley and also Reimer loses ground now.
It may be a fight between the puncheurs: Ricco versus Hagen/Van Garderen/Ponzi/Gilbert!
He holds on! Ricco crosses the line in San Remo as first, with less than a bike length in advantage! A huge effort by the local hero, who brings his team yet another Top-5 and - more important - huge victory! Other puncheurs may now regret to not have joined his crucial move on the Poggio.
Finishing as 2nd is Van Garderen, who had a quite impressive sprint on the final 1000metres, kicking it off from rather far behind Hagen and co.. of course a great result, even though it could have been a win with maybe just a few metres more to go..
The battle for the last podium-spot couldn't have been more thrilling as well: Gilbert lungs in for a small advantage on Ponzi and Hagen!
A very good result for Gilbert, who showed himself at the front of the bunch early into the Poggio and then kept going with those big sprinters and puncheurs.. Hagen though might have been all alone in the wind too early. Also he did not exactly work very well with Impey, which may follow some chats with the team's manager.
And there's another photo-finish for the further positions: Bewley might have beaten Boonen (8th), but has to be satisfied with a 6th place eventually. Just like Boonen, he struggled to find the right wheel in the sprint and was pretty isolated for maybe too long then.
Reimer hang on for an impressive 7th place, while his compatriots Burghardt (9th) and Schumacher (11th) had good sprints for good results, too.
Former race-winner Ulissi didn't really find a good position for the bunch sprint, but at least completes the Top-10, ahead of some big names like Bakelants (who finished even ahead of Roelants, who lost a lot of ground eventually - 16th for him), Pozzato, van der Hugenhaben, Sanchez Gil and also Impey. The latter obviously with the most disappointing result, given that he was on 2nd position with just a kilometre to go!
Coppel, Rovny and Flügel round up the Top-20.. so also Swift (28th) had a horrible final kilometre here, as he was totally lost eventually.
Ricco won't care and celebrates a huge victory at La Primavera! Festina continues to shine here and will have some reasons to celebrate a day or two now.
Thanks for following. We've seen a thrilling race, even though some might have hoped for more puncheurs to attack at the Poggio (or even earlier). And for those, who're interested in history and records: it has been the fastest MSR in the ManGame-history and for the first time in eight years, the winner managed to finish in less than 7 hours! No need to talk about how this is possible though.. Ricco is (and has always been) clean.
