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

[Christian]

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

+1 I am hoping for a good performance from him as well even though I didn't place any bets

RSNT line-up:

Daniele Bennati, Fabian Cancellara, Tony Gallopin, Markel Irizar, Yaroslav Popovych, Gregory Rast, Hayden Roulston & Robert Wagner

Sylvain Chavanel not able to take part due to illness

http://www.cyclismactu.net/news-milan-san-remo-sylvain-chavanel-est-forfait-22992.html

 

[FabulousCandelabra]

Fabians San Remo victory was pretty magical.. he made it look easy!

 

[Froome19]

I didn't think Gerrans was riding either as he was working with the Paris/Nice group towards the classics but going by the Cyclingnews report below and it is also on the Greenedge website......If he is indeed racing and is ok after his fall at P/N he will be a real chance if Goss doesn't stay with the front group. Cooke is also racing very well and if healthy again, I think he will put Goss in the gun position.
"

He looked awful after his fall and was getting drop pretty early on so I m not convinced of him doing anything

I remember hearing that the only reason Cavendish won was because of Hincapie.

In an interview with cyclesport Cav said how his whole team set him up by a different set taking him through different stages of the race, Bernie helped him up Poggio etc etc, without that he would never have reached the end.

Bennati did a very fast tt yesterday. Does this affect anyone's opinion of him? To me it looks like he should be there in any bunch finish but even if some of the sprinters mentioned cant make it then i still feel that he wont have the speed to win. Could stand a good chance if he could sneak on the back of a late break though although i dont know how likely this is. Would have thought that RadioShack's tactics will be for Cancellara to break away and then have Bennati as the man if it comes to a bunch finish.

I am not convinced of his sprinting, but his general riding and stamina looks superb, dont be suprised if Radioshack decided to take the race apart within the last 10k's with Bennatti at the fore,he looks like he is turning (hopefully) into a more classics based rider than a sprinter

Valverde came 3rd at P-N.

I meant he was 3rd on GC (for a while)

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.

Its all mind games

 

[killswitch]

Apparently Wiggins has replaced Knees in the startlist...

 

[williamp78]

wiggins wife on twitter said he's heading to catalunya next that it might be mick rodgers replacing knees

 

[Panda Claws]

These were the favorites as predicted by this forum during the off-season.

Milan-Sanremo:
*** Boasson Hagen
** Boonen, Freire, Cancellara
* Gilbert, Hushovd, Haussler, Goss, Cavendish

 

[Parrulo]

These were the favorites as predicted by this forum during the off-season.

Milan-Sanremo:
*** Boasson Hagen
** Boonen, Freire, Cancellara
* Gilbert, Hushovd, Haussler, Goss, Cavendish

it seems like most people's opinion haven't changed much only thing that changed was sagan being added to the list of favorites after his last performances. also tbh i don't think i put EBH as number 1 favorite on any poll/thread

 

[Panda Claws]

it seems like most people's opinion haven't changed much only thing that changed was sagan being added to the list of favorites after his last performances. also tbh i don't think i put EBH as number 1 favorite on any poll/thread

Yeah it was that thread where you had to predict a winner for the main races. I counted those votes.

 

[Peccio89]

Nibali to attack at the middle of The Poggio, and Sagan will follow the wheel of the chasers and counterattack right on top making it to the finish.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

Nibali to attack at the middle of The Poggio, and Sagan will follow the wheel of the chasers and counterattack right on top making it to the finish.

Nah sagan will be kept in check so elia will do the finishing

 

[Altitude]

You guys seriously think Gilbert has been sand bagging all year? Give me a break. He won't make the top 10.

 

[Froome19]

You guys seriously think Gilbert has been sand bagging all year? Give me a break. He won't make the top 10.

Course he hasnt been sandbagging but he is riding himself into form, carefully as it is important if he wants to be on a really high level from MSR-LBL and beyond, it is called having foresight and i see it as a good thing that he is showing some good foresight especially as he was bombed at Lombardia last year and will need to pace himself more this year to be properly competitive at Lombardia and Worlds.
He will be good at MSR but not at his best.

 

[Panda Claws]

You guys seriously think Gilbert has been sand bagging all year? Give me a break. He won't make the top 10.

Depends on the race. If there is a decent break on the Poggio then Gilbert will be in it. If it ends in a bunch sprint...

 

[roundabout]

Depends on the race. If there is a decent break on the Poggio then Gilbert will be in it. If it ends in a bunch sprint...

you're too pessimistic, Gilbert will be ahead of the break on the Poggio

 

[FF'Wilco]

Gilbert is in bad shape. I really doubt he can do anything on saturday. MSR has an easy route but its a hard race and if you want to play a key role and be in the front of peleton at the top of Poggio you have to be in very good shape. Gilbert isnt.

 

[Panda Claws]

Gilbert is in bad shape. I really doubt he can do anything on saturday. MSR has an easy route but its a hard race and if you want to play a key role and be in the front of peleton at the top of Poggio you have to be in very good shape. Gilbert isnt.

Yeah that's why all pro's are in their top shape now.

To quote Boonen: "You don't need to be 100%."

 

[seaby71]

hey guys
just a question is the decent from the poggio a technical one?
Could a really good decender like nibali, sagan or cancellara gain time on the decent? Could it be enough to hold it until the finnish?
thankyou

 

[FF'Wilco]

Yeah that's why all pro's are in their top shape now.

To quote Boonen: "You don't need to be 100%."

I didint say that you have to be in top shape but in very good at least. Gilbert showed nothing this season so imo he doesnt haver any shape. Look at last year results. All guys from top ten had some decent results before entering MSR.

About Boonen's quote; he never won MSR

 

[greatking88]

hey guys
just a question is the decent from the poggio a technical one?
Could a really good decender like nibali, sagan or cancellara gain time on the decent? Could it be enough to hold it until the finnish?
thankyou

In my opinion probably not but I suppose it depends on how organised the chase is...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX6tqvDf1JA&feature=related

From 6min 35 should help answer the question..

But you never know I suppose..

 

[ferryman]

I see Cunego is starting for Lampre. Not sure why!

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Uh? Maybe it wasn't in the past, but the MSR has long deserved the name of "sprinters classic".



Hard it is alright, but what does straightness have to do with anything? And I wouldn't say it's harder than Flanders. All in all it's the easiest monument.

Indeed, sprinters race. Long and boring for many hours. Only chance of real action involves bad weather and a bit of crashes. So who will win? Sagan would be fantastic, but I fear it will boil down to a Cavendish win.

 

[Parrulo]

In my opinion probably not but I suppose it depends on how organised the chase is...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX6tqvDf1JA&feature=related

From 6min 35 should help answer the question..

But you never know I suppose..

well the descend is technical and many winning moves have been made there in the past, the problem is the 3k of flat after the end of the descend that were added some years ago and that give the peloton time to regroup and chase any attacking moves made on the climb/descend of the poggio. MSR needs to drop that flat asap and go back to finish on the via roma and put another climb like the capo in the middle of the race to make it much more exciting and unpredictable imo.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

well the descend is technical and many winning moves have been made there in the past, the problem is the 3k of flat after the end of the descend that were added some years ago and that give the peloton time to regroup and chase any attacking moves made on the climb/descend of the poggio. MSR needs to drop that flat asap and go back to finish on the via roma and put another climb like the capo in the middle of the race to make it much more exciting and unpredictable imo.

Yes, the race is too easy to control these days. Most of the peloton is ready to go 300km in highway type roads.

 

[Parrulo]

Yes, the race is too easy to control these days. Most of the peloton is ready to go 300km in highway type roads.

exactly, it's impossible to control a peloton on the cobbles or over relentless successions of steep hills for 250k but on the flat if 2 or 3 top teams want to keep it together for their sprinter, they will manage to do it.

that's why i think that it should be added 50k to all the monuments to make them hard man races again

 

[Eric8-A]

Indeed, sprinters race. Long and boring for many hours. Only chance of real action involves bad weather and a bit of crashes. So who will win? Sagan would be fantastic, but I fear it will boil down to a Cavendish win.

The hours of coverage, three if I remember are somewhat tough for me given that I need to wake up at around 4 in the morning to catch the race. I'll probably just wake up to see the final hour where the real action begins.