The first monument of the season. Almost 300km racing with some late hills. This combination makes the race unpredictable as puncheurs can win it just like sprinters depending on the pace over those hills.
Bookies have sprinters as main favourites though with obvious names being Bewley and Van Stayen. But also Holloway, Degenkolb, Kennaugh or Vanderbiest are high with Howard as well as Bewley`s leadout.
Though seeing Ignatiev on this list means, that the puncheurs with a nice kick will also have a chance. More riders to watch out for are surely Ponzi, Ulissi, Boasson Hagen, Trofimov, Bakelants as all those combine puncheur and sprinter skills.
192 riders can`t wait for the start. Who is going to attack first and more important the question who wins the race. More than 7h of racing waits for the riders.
We have seen lots of attacks early on but it took 60km until the first successful group has formed. Only 4 riders and no Italian! Chen Aberasturi Te Brake Gradek
Also notable that one rider is a couple of minutes behind the peloton since the start for some unknown reason. No crash, no puncture. Rumours say, he came late to the start and this way was already behind then. It`s Taylor Newton.
On top of the Passo del Turchino the quartett has reached a gap of 9min. Though with 150km to go it`s slowly going backwards again. It`s the maximum they got allowed today.
Becherovka for Bewley/Sagan, Bouygues for Bakelants, Tinkoff for Trofimov and Pokerstars for Degenkolb are working behind. Also Venchi for Van Stayen is seen with one rider.
Le Manie is the next difficulty. The peloton goes up with mainly Bouygues working. 5min gap with 95km to go. Everything under control. So the pace isn`t very high and all riders come over the top together. This includes Taylor Newton actually, who found back into the peloton as soon as the break was allowed to go.
Meanwhile offside the camera a crash including two riders: Grosu Lasca
The peloton reduced the gap under 2min and now faces the Cipressa. The group still together but the peloton is just behind.
Nothing mayor happened there and so we jump to the Pompeiana, where Te Brake and Gradek distance their two companions. Only 1min behind though the peloton led by Bouygues and Aker for Boasson Hagen.
It`s just a bit flat until the Poggio. Te Brake though shows to be stronger as he goes solo, while Gradek is almost caught. This makes it a fight between the Dutch and 188 riders in the peloton as we haven`t seen any selection yet. Seems to be a sprinter friendly race today, which surely is also caused by a fast tailwind and sunny weather.
The Poggio is the last chance to attack. Also the last chance to catch Te Brake and this wasn`t a problem as already on the first meters Pokerstars is catching him.
It`s actually the two top puncheurs Roche and Ginanni doing the work to control the situation for their sprint train. Degenkolb excellently placed in the 3rd position.
Also the Becherovka riders are well placed with Vesely, Sagan, Bewley and Howard all in the first rows.
Other riders in the front part are Ignatiev, Kennaugh, Kristoff, Boasson Hagen, Gilbert, Napolitano, Ulissi, Burghardt, Ponzi, Guardini, Ricco, Holloway, Avelino, Vanderbiest, Van Stayen, Zabel, Bakelants, Tzortzakis. All of them in this order in the top40 of the peloton.
It almost looked like Pokerstars and Becherovka were having everything under control as Roche, Ginanni and Sagan worked hard to avoid any attacks. Then though a huge attack by Italian Ulissi, winner of 2012 and actually he won it on the Poggio as well.
The power in his attack is shown by this amateur film:
On the descent Ulissi has a 31s gap to a still 160 rider peloton. Not many riders have lost contact eventhough you should be in the top20 to have a chance to win it.
Let`s have a quick look back to the 2012 edition, where Ulissi had a similar gap at the same descent, which ended in a huge win for him:
Ulissi in Festina colours in 2012
The peloton is just 400m behind. But it`s only a bit more than 5km until the finish and Ulissi has proven to be able to finish it.
So it`s now Hagen
himself working at the front. Behind him Ponzi also in a good position that late. While this could mean, the puncheurs take over, the sprinters prove them wrong.
Bewley still just behind them.
3km and 42s for Ulissi. This is looking really good now.
Becherovka though wants to give it a last try. Vesely, Howard, Bewley. More or less a sprint train here, which is rare in MSR.
Degenkolb with the perfect wheel just behind Bewley. And we see more sprinters. Holloway, Kristoff, Hagen, Kennaugh, Tzortzakis, Sagan, Ignatiev all within the top15 riders.
Behind them Gilbert, Burghardt, Zabel, Kluge, Ricco, Ponzi, Trofimov, while Bakelants looks a bit too far behind in ~35th position.
2km left. Ulissi is still in front but the peloton is coming closer.
Bewley knows he has to go for a long sprint. Vesely and Howard look too exhausted to help him any longer. So he has to start his sprint right after the last corner.
The Pokerstars rider next to the barriers is Kluge actually. A last attempt of a leadout for Degenkolb next to him? Or is he going for himself?
Behind Degenkolb Holloway, Kristoff, Kennaugh, Tzortzakis and Zabel.
Then a couple of puncheurs in Hagen, Ricco, Ponzi, Ignatiev.
No one can even match Bewley. The Kiwi is in a league of his own. Actually he isn`t even far behind Ulissi, who really struggles now. Much more than in his 2012 attack.
Also the other sprinters struggle as Degenkolb, Holloway, Kristoff and Tzortzakis are still there but slower than Hagen and Ignatiev, who go past them.
800m and Ulissi knows, he can`t win it. Bewley just comes too fast and takes the lead.
Hagen and Ignatiev though are coming closer.
Bad luck for Ignatiev. Boasson Hagen is going close to Ulissi and the Russian has to stop pedalling a few times to avoid a crash. Well done by Hagen in this scene.
What a win for Bewley. He clearly was the strongest in the end. 2-3 bike lengths to the next riders, where we see a huge fight now as Ignatiev has been able to accelerate again after passing Ulissi.
And indeed Ignatiev beats Boasson Hagen in this close sprint. Awesome result for Metinvest here. 2nd in Milan San Remo. Boasson Hagen as 3rd though not bad at all neither.
Bad luck Ulissi though as he misses the podium by just a bit. He comes in 4th.
Close sprint as well for 5th. Dan Holloway just outsprints a fast Gilbert in the end making this a decent race for those two teams as well. Behind them Ricco outsprints Ponzi also in a photo finish, while Burghardt as 9th with a nice result. Bakelants as 10th definitely started from too far behind.
Though he beats Degenkolb for that last top10 spot. The Pokerstars sprinter was too exhausted in the end. Same for Kristoff in 12 or Tzortzakis in 16th.
And as small bonus here another video of Bewley`s sprint:
