March 17th 2012 Milan-Sanremo - The Primavera - 298km

[Duartista]

You have very high standards. I thought it was pretty good, albeit there was a bit of a lull between Cavendish throwing in the towel and the Poggio.

 

[Froome19]

so watched the race later when i came home.

And what an awful winner. Did almost no work and profited from Cancellara.
Horrible win really.

And Nibali did 0.00 and could do nothing? Wtf... why not work for Sagan then who could've won

I recorded the whole race and watched it later without knowing who won.

I have to say i thought Liquigas got it all wrong. Looking at Sagan it seemed to me he had the shackles on. He won the sprint behind the front three and i think if it came to a sprint he would of won. All they had to do was mark any attack on the Poggio from Cancellara. If they done that then everything was set up for Sagan to win. Because of Nibali going on the attack, in the group behind Sagan had to stay behind Katusha chasing.

Nibali said it was agreed that he was to go on the attack around the table on the morning of the race. That would of been OK if there was sprinters in the group of the calibre of Cav and Greipel. Goss was struggling so why didnt they see racing situation in hand and decide from there what to do. If they did that i am convinced Sagan would of won. His best competition in the sprint would of been Degenkolb and Freire and i think he would of seen them off.

Because Nibali wanted to win

 

[maltiv]

I've only just caught up on watching the Primavera, came here, and found myself once again in Ryo's parallel universe.

Not so much that he's talking about a guy who wasn't relevant, rather the utterly biased rubbish with which he tries to re-writes races.

Anyhow, after last year's racing feast, this year turned out to be back to the usual, cold buffet.
Pretty bland, predictable and uninspiring, apart from the fact that the three stayed away.........just.

You have way too high expectations for M-SR if you think an edition where a 3 man breakaway wins ahead of a 10-man bunch is a bad edition...

 

[Mellow Velo]

You have way too high expectations for M-SR if you think an edition where a 3 man breakaway wins ahead of a 10-man bunch is a bad edition...

Didn't say it was bad, per se. Just more "traditional".
Very late attack on the Poggio and not much to speak of, beyond Hoggers and PV on the Cipressa.
A crash caused the 10 man bunch to get the split, so.........

 

[theyoungest]

You have way too high expectations for M-SR if you think an edition where a 3 man breakaway wins ahead of a 10-man bunch is a bad edition...

Yeah, this was a pretty good one, I think. There's always something dissatisfying about MSR, that's part of the race.

Didn't say it was bad, per se. Just more "traditional".
Very late attack on the Poggio and not much to speak of, beyond Hoggers and PV on the Cipressa.
A crash caused the 10 man bunch to get the split, so.........

Still, the winner was decided between the three strongest guys in the race, as MSR goes that's not too bad.

 

[cineteq]

but yes, Valverde could have won that race in the way Gerrans did. He has the ability to. And he would have been crucified for it just the same.

If Valverde would've been there, Gerro would not have won, it's been proven time after time this season!!!

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

lol ryo for your own health you better don't watch this week's catalunya with quintana dragging valverde uphill on all the climbs.i can't see unzue giving him a free role with valverde in the team,no way unfortunately

valverde wil drop by riders like purito, wiggins etc. I'm sure he won't have to wait then.

 

[Frosty]

Lots of shoulda, woulda, coulda's but maybe Vaughters should have got Garmin to work on the front of the Cav-farrar group? Cav didnt seem in any state to pose a threat if he got into the front group and Garmin would then have had a chance for extra team-mates to support Haussler (if they werent too tired from the chase). Maybe he would have had better positioning and not been caught behind the crash, although equally other teams would have had more domestiques too? Farrar could have had a chance as well although i doubt he would have been in the Sagan group at the end.

 

[Echoes]

By the way, I also was right when I said Paris-Nice was now again the better prep for Milan Sanremo, compared to Tirreno.

Twice in a row, the winner of Milan Sanremo comes from Paris Nice.

You have way too high expectations for M-SR if you think an edition where a 3-man breakaway wins ahead of a 10-man bunch is a bad edition...

Oh cool, another poster who started watching Milan-Sanremo after Zabel started stealing it ...

 

[Froome19]

By the way, I also was right when I said Paris-Nice was now again the better prep for Milan Sanremo, compared to Tirreno.
:

That doesnt prove it is good preparation as in fact the strongest guy in the race + 2 out of the 3 in the decisive break, raced at tirreno so yes its a nice claim but logically it doesnt really work.

 

[Gloin22]

By the way, I also was right when I said Paris-Nice was now again the better prep for Milan Sanremo, compared to Tirreno.

Twice in a row, the winner of Milan Sanremo comes from Paris Nice.





Oh cool, another poster who started watching Milan-Sanremo after Zabel started stealing it ...

Cancellara, Nibali, Sagan, Pozzato, Freire, Ballan, Oss and Benatti ( 8/10 ) came from Tirreno, so I disagree. Gerrans won by wheelsucking, and good loigc but Top 10 proves that Tirreno is better prep than PN to be honest.

 

[Sciatic]

Whoa, what a huge DNF list. I guess when it's 300 k the idea of just staying till the finish just for training isn't so appealing. Or was there a time limit that cut them off?
I know the DNFs for the cobbled classics are even bigger, but that's because the cobbles and weather shatter so many riders out.

 

[Froome19]

Whoa, what a huge DNF list. I guess when it's 300 k the idea of just staying till the finish just for training isn't so appealing. Or was there a time limit that cut them off?
I know the DNFs for the cobbled classics are even bigger, but that's because the cobbles and weather shatter so many riders out.

Also in one day races, sometimes riders are less motivated to finish as there is no tomorow like there would be in stage races

 

[Richeypen]

That doesnt prove it is good preparation as in fact the strongest guy in the race + 2 out of the 3 in the decisive break, raced at tirreno so yes its a nice claim but logically it doesnt really work.

The whole prep argument is rubbish. No matter what race the riders did the results would have been the same.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Nah, Echoes is just upset that some people think the last 15 editions are more relevant to predictions than what happened 50 years ago.

If I remember correctly, their first "stop being negative about Milan-San Remo it's the best classic no really it is!" thread was a response to talking about sprinters in the Worlds, because somebody pointed out Zabel winning Amstel Gold, and pointed out his qualities in hilly classics, citing Milan-San Remo as an example. Milan-San Remo may be many things, but a hilly classic it is not. Echoes misread this as a criticism of their favourite race and went on a rant about how it's mistreated by fans who think it's a sprinter's race when really it's not you know despite how 2/3 of the last 15 editions have gone to bunch sprints.

Echoes has a bit of a bugbear for the idea that San Remo is a race for sprinters, actually:
http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=6415 (before the 2010 edition which was of course a sprint)
http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=12667 (before the 2011 edition which was of course not a sprint)
http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=15457 (in October 2011, because people were talking about San Remo as a sprinters' race in the aftermath of the Worlds)
...and of course the first post in this very thread.

Echoes is feeling very smug and triumphant because the trio just beat the bunch home (which would have been a bunch of 40 if not for the crash), so this proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Milan-San Remo is not a sprinter's classic, because two in a row haven't been sprints.

Historically, of course, Milan-San Remo has not been a sprinters' race until the late 90s, but even though 2/3 of the races since HAVE been sprints, woe betide you if you bring that up.

 

[Sciatic]

Actually, it has finally dawned on me what Canc's strategy was yesterday. Here's what he was thinking as Nibali attacked:
"I'm sure I can beat Sagan, Boonen, Goss, and the rest in the sprint if I just stay with the group, but I would really like to see the MSR thread on the CN Forum get to 1,500 posts so I think I'll jump on with Nibs and Gerrans so that I'll end up getting just barely beat at the line. That should stir up enough debate to hit the magic 1500 mark"

 

[El Pistolero]

Actually, it has finally dawned on me what Canc's strategy was yesterday. Here's what he was thinking as Nibali attacked:
"I'm sure I can beat Sagan, Boonen, Goss, and the rest in the sprint if I just stay with the group, but I would really like to see the MSR thread on the CN Forum get to 1,500 posts so I think I'll jump on with Nibs and Gerrans so that I'll end up getting just barely beat at the line. That should stir up enough debate to hit the magic 1500 mark"

And he's even failing at that!

 

[greenedge]

And Nibali did 0.00 and could do nothing? Wtf... why not work for Sagan then who could've won

I doubt Nibali could have reeled in Cancellara on the flats though.

 

[greenedge]

Did Gerrans attack? No he did not. He followed Nibali's move. Valverde would more than likely have done the same as though Valverde is notorious for not animating races himself he is very good at knowing which moves to follow, and even he wouldn't back himself in a sprint against some of the people who were still left when Nibali made his move - Goss, Renshaw, Boasson Hagen, Boonen. Do I think Valverde would have hung on in the Poggio? People like Degenkolb, Oss and Geschke managed to, I'm pretty sure Valverde could.

Yeah that is what i meant, i just did not have time to say Valverde would not have fancied his sprinting chances againt that group, though of course he could have hung on.

 

[El Pistolero]

But Valverde has never liked nervous races, and Milan-San Remo is a very nervous race. That's something to factor in to be honest. Also, a crash could ruin his entire season. That's why he prefers to do stage races/hilly classics because the chance of falling isn't as big there. That's my opinion about it at least. The fact that it's an Italian race is also a factor of course.

 

[greenedge]

That doesnt prove it is good preparation as in fact the strongest guy in the race + 2 out of the 3 in the decisive break, raced at tirreno so yes its a nice claim but logically it doesnt really work.

I would say Gerrans was on par with Nibali strength wise. Nibali was rocking in his saddle on the flats, could not even descend at the front and Gerrans followed him with ease on the climb ( though the Poggio is not that steep ).

 

[jens_attacks]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHAKie2XiU0&feature=player_embedded#!

big fan of stephens and matt white

 

[will10]

Whoa, what a huge DNF list. I guess when it's 300 k the idea of just staying till the finish just for training isn't so appealing. Or was there a time limit that cut them off?
I know the DNFs for the cobbled classics are even bigger, but that's because the cobbles and weather shatter so many riders out.

If you're minutes off the back, you'll see a lot of riders ride along the coast road to San Remo rather than go over the Poggio, so you wind up with a fair number of guys who've done c.300km and ended up in San Remo, but not officially finished.

 

[thehog]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHAKie2XiU0&feature=player_embedded#!

big fan of stephens and matt white

yeah mate yeah mate, stuey mate, yeah na, yeah na..... Australians are so eloquent.

 

[thehog]

yeah mate yeah mate, stuey mate, yeah na, yeah na..... Australians are so eloquent.

Good to see Festina Neil Stephens in the video....