[SPOILER] Milan - San Remo. La classica di Primavera. 17th March - Spoilers

[thom]

I absolutely loved the Stannard / Chavanel move. That was some big balls from Stannard considering the company he was keeping - awesome effort.

Yeah its a shame Geraint Thomas crashed out because Stannard was riding for him (I think). We don't have a feel for Thomas' form yet but given the SKY team performance was much improved on last year, he might have been able to contribute to the finale too.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

I'm amazed at some of the stupid comments on other forums about Ciolek not deserving the win because he is a 'wheelsucker'. He's a sprinter. It is up to other types of riders to lose sprinters or they will beat you in the err, sprint. Plus he staged an amazing fightback after seeming like he was dropped and out of it on the second-last climb. I think we were all surprised he was there at all. It was a fantastic ride by him both in terms of guts and tactics.

 

[Buddfox]

I'm amazed at some of the stupid comments on other forums about Ciolek not deserving the win because he is a 'wheelsucker'. He's a sprinter. It is up to other types of riders to lose sprinters or they will beat you in the err, sprint. Plus he staged an amazing fightback after seeming like he was dropped and out of it on the second-last climb. I think we were all surprised he was there at all. It was a fantastic ride by him both in terms of guts and tactics.

Yes, agreed. Watching it, knowing the result, it was fascinating as they observed him being dropped, I think on La Cipressa right? He did well to get back on, and you can't fault tactics. It's a race after all.

I was left wondering, with the other bunch just 14" back, whether or not there would have been any prospect of the 7 being caught for a bunch sprint. Props to Phinney for getting back on at the end. Also, was pleased Cav stuck with it to finish 9th. Others would have dropped out knowing they wouldn't win (er, Tom Boonen...? :-) )

 

[raindog]

a good look back at sunday's race
http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/10-conclusions-from-milan-san-remo-1

 

[beastie]

I'm amazed at some of the stupid comments on other forums about Ciolek not deserving the win because he is a 'wheelsucker'. He's a sprinter. It is up to other types of riders to lose sprinters or they will beat you in the err, sprint. Plus he staged an amazing fightback after seeming like he was dropped and out of it on the second-last climb. I think we were all surprised he was there at all. It was a fantastic ride by him both in terms of guts and tactics.

This is why you should only visit these other forums to pick up any news or gossip, and for no more. Full of nutters.

 

[Happiness Stan]

To be honest, I understand his point that he was saying that the organization knew about the Turchino situation before the start. So they either 1. let the riders start and completely finish the stage
2. or they just directly start in whatever-the-place-was-called where they had their second start

He was saying, that there were tons of guys already dropped (he was saying close to 100 guys) already in the "first race" but that the whole peloton was put together again at the re-start so he felt that was very unfair for the guys who had been "racing" in the snowy first part.

Then again, I do agree that Boonen indeed was moaning an awful lot, especially as he is one of the "poster-boys" of cycling (but I guess it's also partly because he just doesn't like those conditions either; not all Belgians enjoy Belgian weather )


BTW, just the fact that there is actually an answer to the question, "can anybody beat Sagan if there is a select group going to the finish", has blown me away

Personally, I am a bit disappointed that GIlbert, Roelandts, Pozzato and Degenkolb missed the escape on the Poggio, they all looked fine after the Cipressa.
And on a side-comment, when I saw the weather, I was convinced Voeckler was going to pop up somewhere in the finale (e.g. after the Cipressa) like a jack-in-the-box and try to go for an escape. So when I looked at the full results this morning, I checked if he had abandoned (which would explain his no-show) and I saw he actually did finish and more specifically in the last group. Seems weird to me that he couldn't play a part - at all - in the race (since he can be mostly trusted to have a whack at it) but still wanted to finish.

Cav must have been thrilled that his team mates pussied out while he soldiered on to 9th place. Where might he have finished if Boonan, Terpstra and Vandenberg had not decided to snuggle up under a duvet with a mug of Ovaltine? Flandrians? My arse.