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

[Climbing]

Well, Sagan and Nibali (especially) have superb form at the moment, they could play tandem (didn't work exactly well sometimes btw).
I consider them best bet, if the race is hard enough.

 

[UselessToo]

My favourites: Sagan, Boonen, Cancellara, Freire
My outside bet: Marcato

 

[Panda Claws]

Gilbert's fever is gone, and Lelangue will finally break the Omerta regarding his form tomorrow.

 

[jens_attacks]

the last pictures from imola with phil and testa:

the tuning is almost done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XypVcv77WBU

you've been warned,it's gonna be a bumpy san remo.

 

[will10]

Think Bennati is a sure bet to be 4th in the bunch sprint, either for the win or behind a small group.

Nibali/Sagan could be a very dangerous partnership if they play it right. Gonna go for Boonen though, about time he had a San Remo on his palmares.

 

[jens_attacks]

phil looks skinny in this pic gotta say,no more colombo

 

[Panda Claws]

Phil will reveal that he has been riding with an extra heavy bike all season.

 

[Carstenbf]

Rooting for Breschel. Obviously not favourite, but the longer the race the better he tends to perform. One can only hope, eh?

 

[theyoungest]

phil looks skinny in this pic gotta say,no more colombo

If this is his new training mate, I know why he hasn't been going so well.

 

[dlwssonic]

Gilbert's fever is gone, and Lelangue will finally break the Omerta regarding his form tomorrow.

The article made it sound like they didn't have much confidence in gilbert/

 

[jens_attacks]

If this is his new training mate, I know why he hasn't been going so well.

nah he just found an ally for the poggio descent.

 

[boomcie]

If this is his new training mate, I know why he hasn't been going so well.

That's Hushovd.

 

[luckyboy]

I wonder if Valverde will ride.

Got £12 to spend on bets, that 4 at £3. Boonen, Freire, maybe Sagan, ?

 

[Zam_Olyas]

Rojas will miss due to illness.

 

[royalpig180]

Think Bennati is a sure bet to be 4th in the bunch sprint, either for the win or behind a small group.

Nibali/Sagan could be a very dangerous partnership if they play it right. Gonna go for Boonen though, about time he had a San Remo on his palmares.

After reading the interview with Nibali, I'm afraid they aren't going to play the tactics right. It looks like they're hoping for Nibali to launch an attack on one of the final climbs and see if he can stay away. Unless he gets some allies that likely wouldn't stick if the sprinters and their teams are still around. Then if he gets caught, Sagan will get 4th or 5th in the bunch sprint. Honestly, they need to give up the idea of Nibali winning MSR. He should be working for Sagan in a race that suits Sagan much better than Nibali. Obviously, if Sagan says he isn't feeling good by the time the Poggio and Cippressa come around, then Nibali should try his chances. But their best chance of winning the race is simply keep the pace high over the climbs to drop the pure sprinters, so that Sagan can win.

 

[therhodeo]

That's Hushovd.

Compared to some guys in the peloton Thor does look that way at times.

 

[pastronef]

I fear Sagan can be a major contender, i just dont know how well can he ride after 298 km

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

After reading the interview with Nibali, I'm afraid they aren't going to play the tactics right. It looks like they're hoping for Nibali to launch an attack on one of the final climbs and see if he can stay away. Unless he gets some allies that likely wouldn't stick if the sprinters and their teams are still around. Then if he gets caught, Sagan will get 4th or 5th in the bunch sprint. Honestly, they need to give up the idea of Nibali winning MSR. He should be working for Sagan in a race that suits Sagan much better than Nibali. Obviously, if Sagan says he isn't feeling good by the time the Poggio and Cippressa come around, then Nibali should try his chances. But their best chance of winning the race is simply keep the pace high over the climbs to drop the pure sprinters, so that Sagan can win.

that's very stupid indeed. nibali should launch on cipressa or that new climb is ie before or in between? I forgot and make a very hard race again like last year than sagan should follow cancellara and the likes and win final sprint like goss did last year. or attack in final k's

 

[taiwan]

Yeah I agree that with both in form they should work for Sagan, but letting Nibali attack doesn't hurt unless the chase group goes too hard for Sagan. That doesn't seem too likely, given the form the Slovak showed in T-A. As long as Nibali doesn't sprint or expect Sagan to work, there shouldn't be a problem.

 

[nvpacchi]

After reading the interview with Nibali, I'm afraid they aren't going to play the tactics right. It looks like they're hoping for Nibali to launch an attack on one of the final climbs and see if he can stay away. Unless he gets some allies that likely wouldn't stick if the sprinters and their teams are still around. Then if he gets caught, Sagan will get 4th or 5th in the bunch sprint. Honestly, they need to give up the idea of Nibali winning MSR. He should be working for Sagan in a race that suits Sagan much better than Nibali. Obviously, if Sagan says he isn't feeling good by the time the Poggio and Cippressa come around, then Nibali should try his chances. But their best chance of winning the race is simply keep the pace high over the climbs to drop the pure sprinters, so that Sagan can win.

Liquigas nervous that Sagan might not be able to handle the distance? Or they might be downplaying his chances to take some pressure off him.

He is no doubt in some good form, I'm interested to see how he performs.

 

[royalpig180]

Yeah I agree that with both in form they should work for Sagan, but letting Nibali attack doesn't hurt unless the chase group goes too hard for Sagan. That doesn't seem too likely, given the form the Slovak showed in T-A. As long as Nibali doesn't sprint or expect Sagan to work, there shouldn't be a problem.

I suppose. I'm just afraid that the race will be too easy up until the last couple climbs, Nibali will attack, get caught, and then the likes of Freire, Hushovd, or Boonen won't have been dropped. They need to make the whole race as selective as possible, which would really favor both Nibali's late attack and Sagan's chances in a sprint.

 

[gilbertador]

Liquigas should work with setting a truly infernal pace over the cipressa and preceeding hils then let Nibali attack in tandem with sagan at the base of the pogio, together they can descend like nothing else and hopefully hold off the bunch to the finish with sagan to win from a small group

 

[Zam_Olyas]

Liquigas
Vincenzo Nibali, Peter Sagan, Daniel Oss, Elia Viviani, Valerio Agnoli, Maciej Bodnar, Kristijan Koren and Paolo Longo Borghini.

 

[boomcie]

Compared to some guys in the peloton Thor does look that way at times.

Correct reading of joke: check.

 

[palmerq]

I wonder if Valverde will ride.

Got £12 to spend on bets, that 4 at £3. Boonen, Freire, maybe Sagan, ?

bennatti each way... on bet365 you can get about 3/1 for him to get top 5, or you could a few days ago... bennatti is going well and he never wins