Hello, and welcome to the startline in Milan for the La Classicissima di Primavera. Nearly 300km of tarmac lay ahead, as the peleton head south of out the Italian city toward San Remo on the coast. Expected to the a Sprinter’s Classic, but with the Puncheurs here on the startlist, you never know what might happen over the final climbs of the Cipressa and Poggio.


It was a fast and frantic start to the race, as no attack containing no more than 4 riders was allowed off the front of the pack! Gazelle, Pokerstars and Aker all leading a very fast peleton.



After 50km of attacks and chases, the day’s break finally formed, with Tony Martin, Patrick Lane, Willie Smit and Yves Ngock Ngue all present. The peleton seemed happy with this, and it was about time because it looked like the escape group would never form!



They started the race by doing helping with the chase, but now they want a man up the road. Roman Senyenov of Gazelle attacks and quickly jumps across the gap to the quartet up the road.

Peleton

<< + 5’31 >>

Breakaway

Through the Passo del Turchino, and the gap back to the peleton was up to 7’32�. The pack was well in control of the pace, and with just under 150km remaining, there was nothing for the peleton to worry about.


Kenya Airways and Evonik set the pace of the peleton as we ran down the Italian coast towards San Remo, and the gap began to slowly fall. Both riders clearly expecting their leaders to do well at the finish.

Peleton

<< + 5’04 >>

Breakaway

A clear sign that the pace has been increased for Kenya and Evonik, as we see the first riders to fall out the back. Luca Sterbini is one, whilst the other is a shock in the form of Petr Vakoc! Both on bottle collecting duties, and both will have a long ride to make it within the time limit with just under 100km remaining.

Gr. Vakoc

<<+ 2’18� >>

Peleton

<< + 2’48 >>

Breakaway

ATTACK COPPEL! On the climb of the Capo Berta, the French TT Champion makes a move for the Gen I-Festina team. A bit of a shock move, but no one the peleton should let go up the road.


Fantastic work from Sagan to pull Coppel back. He is clearly riding in support of Bewley today, and the Slovak did a great job to pull it all back together (minus the breakaway group up the road). The attack from Coppel has really eaten into the break’s time, who only have 1’44� on the peleton.


Onto the Cipressa and Ngock Ngue makes a move from the escape group. Tony Martin holds his wheel, and the pair are quick to distant the rest of the group. Smit and Lane are fighting hard to bridge before the top, but it is game over for Senyenov I’m afraid.


Over the top, and the quintet is now a trio! Smit manages to latch onto the back of the Martin/Ngock Ngue attack, and they hit the descent with the peleton hot on their tail.


One kilometer from the Poggio and Ngock Ngue goes again. Smit and Martin are struggling to hold on to the Cameroonian’s wheel this time around, and look to be spent for the day. Ngock Ngue has 50� over the peleton, and will it be enough to climb the Poggio and take the win?


ATTACKS ON THE POGGIO! Yuri Trofimov and Francesco Ginanni make their move on the final climb before the run into the finish. After status quo on the Cipressa, we really needed this from this pair. All other puncheurs watch them go, as the Sprinters try to remain calm and not expand too much energy.


The attack is a disaster for Ngock Ngue, who is caught on the descent. Against these two, after a day in the break, he is not going to be the favourite if they make it to the line. The gap is just over 30� to the peleton behind, with all the sprinters making their way to the front.


The Flamme Rouge is in sight, and there is still a 20� gap to the leading trio! This is a going to be a close finish and there is no dominate sprint train taking control. Has the disorganisation handed the win to one of the escapees?


In a panic, the sprint starts early for some riders! Boasson Hagen is the first to crack, along with Ponzi and Kluge. Behind them, the sprinters are remaining calm. Under the Flamme Rouge for breakaway, and we are under 10� for the gap.

EBH
Ponzi	Kluge
Houle
	Ignatiev	Van Stayen		Degenkolb
			Bewley
	Kneisky			Grosu
Young				Kristoff

700 meters to go and the breakaway is caught. Trofimov is trying to hold onto the coattails of the sprinters, and could end up with a Top 10 finish for his effort on the Poggio! Degenkolb looks to be in a commanding position to take the win, with Grosu, Van Stayen and Bewley chasing him down hard.


SURELY NOT! Bewley comes from so far back, and he hasn’t taken the victory? A photo finish is needed on the line to decide whether it is Bewley or Degenkolb. We might need a photo finish for who takes third as well. Really close finish here in San Remo.


VICTORY BEWLEY! The Kiwi takes another victory this season, and this was the most impressive. He came from a long way back to just take the win ahead of Degenkolb. A tyre width is all it needed!

Van Stayen holds off Grosu for third, with Trofimov sprinting excellently for 5th place. Simone Ponzi takes 6th, with Hugo Houle, Mikhail Ignatiev, Eric Young and Edvald Boasson Hagen rounding out the Top 10. Alexander Kristoff will be disappointed with his finish, crossing the line in 12th, but will be much happier than the likes of Swift, Kump and Demare who were nowhere to be seen.

1	Sam Bewley	Becherovka - Petrof	6h27'10
2	John Degenkolb	Pokerstars.com	s.t.
3	Michael Van Stayen	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
4	Eduard Grosu	Metinvest-Dacia	s.t.
5	Yuri Trofimov	Tinkoff Sport Academy	s.t.
6	Simone Ponzi	Kenya Airways - Dimension Data	s.t.
7	Hugo Houle	RBC Pro Cycling	s.t.
8	Mikhail Ignatiev	Metinvest-Dacia	s.t.
9	Eric Young	RBC Pro Cycling	s.t.
10	Edvald Boasson Hagen	Aker - MOT	s.t.
11	Sean De Bie	Aegon - Lavazza	s.t.
12	Alexander Kristoff	Aker - MOT	s.t.
13	Cheng Ji	Jayco'z Cycling Project	s.t.
14	Morgan Kneisky	Bouygues Telecom	s.t.
15	Jan Bakelants	Bouygues Telecom	s.t.
16	Marcus Burghardt	Jayco'z Cycling Project	s.t.
17	Francesco Ginanni	Gazelle	s.t.
18	Jurgen Roelandts	Bouygues Telecom	s.t.
19	Jacopo Guarnieri	Grieg - Eftel	s.t.
20	Maurits Lammertink	eBuddy	s.t.
21	Matthew Goss	Jayco'z Cycling Project	s.t.
22	Roger Kluge	Pokerstars.com	s.t.
23	Arthur Vichot	Orange - KLM Cycling	s.t.
24	Jerome Coppel	Team I-Gen - Festina	s.t.
25	Travis Meyer	Grieg - Eftel	s.t.
26	Laurent Pichon	RBC Pro Cycling	s.t.
27	Dan Holloway	Red Bull - Huawei	s.t.
28	Roy Jans	Hugo Boss	s.t.
29	Chun Kai Feng	Jayco'z Cycling Project	s.t.
30	Florian Senechal	Pendleton's	s.t.
31	Marcos Altur	Movistar - US Postal	s.t.
32	Clement Koretzky	Team I-Gen - Festina	s.t.
33	Marko Kump	Hugo Boss	s.t.
34	Daniel Oss	Aker - MOT	s.t.
35	Ramon Sinkeldam	eBuddy	s.t.
36	Nicolae Tanovitchii	Metinvest-Dacia	s.t.
37	Sebastian Lander	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
38	Arnaud Demare	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
39	Ben Swift	Aegon - Lavazza	s.t.
40	Pieter Vanspeybrouck	BPost-Vlaanderen	s.t.
41	Ilnur Zakarin	Tinkoff Sport Academy	s.t.
42	Wilco Kelderman	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
43	Kristian Haugaard Jensen	RBC Pro Cycling	s.t.
44	Niels Albert	Metinvest-Dacia	s.t.
45	Charalampas Kastrantas	Team I-Gen - Festina	s.t.
46	Tom David	Team I-Gen - Festina	s.t.
47	Davide Villella	Aegon - Lavazza	s.t.
48	Peter Sagan	Becherovka - Petrof	s.t.
49	Gerald Ciolek	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
50	Antoine Duchesne	RBC Pro Cycling	s.t.
51	Yves Ngock Ngue	Pendleton's	s.t.
52	Leigh Howard	Becherovka - Petrof	s.t.
53	Erik Mohs	Pokerstars.com	s.t.
54	Taylor Tolleson	Hugo Boss	s.t.
55	Cameron Meyer	Kenya Airways - Dimension Data	s.t.
56	Gatis Smukulis	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
57	Vladimir Gusev	Tinkoff Sport Academy	s.t.
58	Jan Oelerich	Pokerstars.com	s.t.
59	Ivan Rovny	Tinkoff Sport Academy	s.t.
60	Maxime Monfort	Gazelle	s.t.
61	Georgos Tzortzakis	Team I-Gen - Festina	s.t.
62	Nick Van der Lijke	Vesuvio - Accumalux	s.t.
63	Greg Van Avermaet	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
64	Adam Blythe	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
65	Wesley Kreder	eBuddy	s.t.
66	Jesus Del Nero	Pokerstars.com	s.t.
67	Mark Dzamastagic	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
68	Fabio Felline	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
69	Dario Cataldo	Vontobel	s.t.
70	Jan Tratnik	Gazelle	s.t.
71	Calvin Watson	Grieg - Eftel	s.t.
72	Josef Hosek	Becherovka - Petrof	s.t.
73	Jaco Venter	Kenya Airways - Dimension Data	s.t.
74	Jo Kogstad Ringheim	Aker - MOT	s.t.
75	Willie Smit	Grieg - Eftel	s.t.
76	Jetse Bol	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
77	Andrii Bratashcuk	Metinvest-Dacia	s.t.
78	Alexey Tsatevich	Movistar - US Postal	s.t.
79	Joeri Stallaert	BPost-Vlaanderen	s.t.
80	Michał Kwiatkowski	Kenya Airways - Dimension Data	s.t.
81	Grzegorz Stepniak	Team I-Gen - Festina	s.t.
82	Marcel Wyss	Vontobel	s.t.
83	Björn Thurau	Aegon - Lavazza	s.t.
84	Estifanos Kebede	Kenya Airways - Dimension Data	s.t.
85	Wouter Wippert	Jayco'z Cycling Project	s.t.
86	Jocelyn Bar	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
87	Jonathan Hivert	Orange - KLM Cycling	s.t.
88	Roman Senyenov	Gazelle	s.t.
89	Marco Marcato	Hugo Boss	s.t.
90	Lukasz Wisniowski	Grieg - Eftel	s.t.
91	Oumaru Minoungou	Pendleton's	s.t.
92	Eliot Lietaer	BPost-Vlaanderen	s.t.
93	Blaz Furdi	Gazelle	s.t.
94	Jack Bobridge	Jayco'z Cycling Project	s.t.
95	Fabio Silvestre	Movistar - US Postal	s.t.
96	Tony Martin	Bouygues Telecom	s.t.
97	Alexey Lutsenko	Pendleton's	s.t.
98	Guillaume Van Keirsbulck	BPost-Vlaanderen	s.t.
99	Nicolas Edet	Orange - KLM Cycling	s.t.
100	Matej Mohoric	Red Bull - Huawei	s.t.
101	João Gaspar	Bouygues Telecom	s.t.
102	Pello Bilbao	Hugo Boss	s.t.
103	Toms Skujins	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
104	Tesfom Okbamariam	Kenya Airways - Dimension Data	s.t.
105	Kristian Sbaragli	Aegon - Lavazza	s.t.
106	Vegard Breen	Aker - MOT	s.t.
107	Romain Feillu	Aker - MOT	s.t.
108	Davide Formolo	Gazelle	s.t.
109	Florian Scheit	Aegon - Lavazza	s.t.
110	Joey Rosskopf	Red Bull - Huawei	s.t.
111	Stefano Agostini	Bouygues Telecom	s.t.
112	Luke Rowe	Grieg - Eftel	s.t.
113	Paul Martens	eBuddy	s.t.
114	Davide Appollonio	Vontobel	s.t.
115	Sergey Chernetskiy	Tinkoff Sport Academy	s.t.
116	Geert Van der Sanden	Aegon - Lavazza	s.t.
117	Joshua Edmondson	Pendleton's	s.t.
118	Francisco Javier Echarri	Pokerstars.com	s.t.
119	Mikhail Kochetkov	Orange - KLM Cycling	s.t.
120	Jens Keukeleire	BPost-Vlaanderen	s.t.
121	Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev	Bouygues Telecom	s.t.
122	Patrick Konrad	Gazelle	s.t.
123	Ben Gastauer	Vesuvio - Accumalux	s.t.
124	Maurice Schreurs	Orange - KLM Cycling	s.t.
125	Olivier Le Gac	Team I-Gen - Festina	s.t.
126	Jacob Salcone	Jayco'z Cycling Project	s.t.
127	Moreno Hofland	Gazelle	s.t.
128	Jani Tewelde	Red Bull - Huawei	s.t.
129	Maciej Paterski	Vesuvio - Accumalux	s.t.
130	Thomas Lebas	Orange - KLM Cycling	s.t.
131	Rui Costa	Hugo Boss	s.t.
132	Francisco Ventoso	Hugo Boss	s.t.
133	Bjorn Selander	Movistar - US Postal	s.t.
134	Xavier Quevedo	Movistar - US Postal	s.t.
135	Charles Matte	RBC Pro Cycling	s.t.
136	Dimitri Claeys	BPost-Vlaanderen	s.t.
137	Michael Olsson	Grieg - Eftel	s.t.
138	Sep Vanmarcke	Vesuvio - Accumalux	s.t.
139	Matteo Trentin	Grieg - Eftel	s.t.
140	Michel Kreder	Orange - KLM Cycling	s.t.
141	Daniel Hoelgaard	Aker - MOT	s.t.
142	Alexander Rybakov	Tinkoff Sport Academy	s.t.
143	Costa Seibeb	Kenya Airways - Dimension Data	s.t.
144	Bryan Coquard	Team I-Gen - Festina	s.t.
145	Bob Schoonbroodt	BPost-Vlaanderen	s.t.
146	Guillaume Boivin	RBC Pro Cycling	s.t.
147	Jesper Hansen	Red Bull - Huawei	s.t.
148	Pedro Merino Criado	Vesuvio - Accumalux	s.t.
149	Pablo Mudarra	Hugo Boss	s.t.
150	Gianni Meersman	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
151	Stijn Vandenbergh	Kenya Airways - Dimension Data	s.t.
152	Janvier Hadi	Bouygues Telecom	s.t.
153	Ulugbek Galiev	Red Bull - Huawei	s.t.
154	Yannick Stoltz	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
155	Daniel Vesely	Becherovka - Petrof	+ 3'31
156	Marcel Aregger	Vontobel	s.t.
157	Frank Schleck	Vesuvio - Accumalux	s.t.
158	Scott Thwaites	Red Bull - Huawei	s.t.
159	Tyler Farrar	Movistar - US Postal	s.t.
160	Michal Golas	Aker - MOT	s.t.
161	Johann van Zyl	RBC Pro Cycling	s.t.
162	Valens Ndayisenga	Vesuvio - Accumalux	s.t.
163	Patrick Lane	Vontobel	s.t.
164	Alex Wohler	Jayco'z Cycling Project	s.t.
165	Tom Leezer	eBuddy	s.t.
166	Remco Te Brake	eBuddy	s.t.
167	Danny Van Poppel	eBuddy	s.t.
168	Kristof Goddaert	Metinvest-Dacia	s.t.
169	Janis Dakteris	Evonik - ELKO	+ 5'23
170	Andrew Fenn	Pendleton's	s.t.
171	Kleber Silva	Pendleton's	s.t.
172	Frederik Nolf	Metinvest-Dacia	s.t.
173	Alexander Sulimov	Tinkoff Sport Academy	s.t.
174	Jaroslaw Marycz	Pendleton's	+ 6'17
175	Raphael Addy	Vontobel	s.t.
176	Simon Pellaud	Vesuvio - Accumalux	s.t.
177	Jon Ander Insausti	Pokerstars.com	+ 6'40
178	Mauricio Sanz	Pokerstars.com	s.t.
179	Vojtech Hacecký	Metinvest-Dacia	s.t.
180	Mikiel Habtom	Becherovka - Petrof	s.t.
181	Yoeri Havik	eBuddy	+ 7'21
182	Petr Vakoc	Becherovka - Petrof	s.t.
183	Faycal Hamza	Aegon - Lavazza	s.t.
184	Kevin Fouquet	BPost-Vlaanderen	s.t.
185	Westley Gough	Becherovka - Petrof	+ 8'07
186	Ramon Domene	Movistar - US Postal	s.t.
187	Andrea Manfredi	Orange - KLM Cycling	s.t.
188	Taylor Newton	Movistar - US Postal	s.t.
189	Andrea Dal Col	Vontobel	s.t.
190	Anton Vorobev	Tinkoff Sport Academy	s.t.
191	Théry Schir	Vontobel	+ 10'32
192	Luca Sterbini	Red Bull - Huawei	+ 11'43
193	Micael Isidoro	Control Team	+ 36'56
194	Denis Kostyuk	Control Team	s.t.
195	Juan Pablo Wilches	Control Team	s.t.