March 19: Milan - San Remo 2011 298km

[Winterfold]

I meant Freire - but I guess you thought I meant Felline?

More interesting than my choice for sure And if he wins I will definitely claim it.

Noone knows really do they? Even the really strong teams don't know who their best bet is. Is Cav fit enough or should we go with Goss? Thor/Tyler/Heinrich? Greipel or Gilbert?

Great - we will see a race tomorrow

 

[More Strides than Rides]

This latest CN article:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/garmin-cervelo-has-three-aces-for-milan-san-remo



Is it just me or is there some extra tension and anticipation around the race this year?

I remember writing off last year's pre-race as 298.5k of waiting for a sprint. This year, every scenario is equally possible: Gilbert and other punchers have shown more potential to out wit the sprinters; the old guard in Freire and Petacchi; the new potential in the likes of Goss and Haedo, and of course everyone wanting to see Garmin play its cards. Getting to the finish will be more exciting for sure.

 

[The Hitch]

I meant Freire - but I guess you thought I meant Felline?

More interesting than my choice for sure And if he wins I will definitely claim it.

Noone knows really do they? Even the really strong teams don't know who their best bet is. Is Cav fit enough or should we go with Goss? Thor/Tyler/Heinrich? Greipel or Gilbert?

Great - we will see a race tomorrow

I knew you meant Freire Though i could also have made the joke about Oscar Gatto. Would have done so had you said you were going for the cat named Oscar.

And yes Libertine seguros, i do know that the Spanish for Cat only has one t

 

[El Pistolero]

I've had £10 e/w on Kolobnev @ 250/1

That's a huge price for a rider that can attack on the Poggia.

Kolobnev is suffering from what I call the Phantom rainbow jersey curse syndrome.

 

[woodie]

When does the live coverage start?

I think this is going to be a really exciting race, I'd say Haussler is the favourite (for me anyway) but anything can happen over 298km and there's heaps of riders who can win

 

[Eric8-A]

What website will be showing live coverage?

 

[Granville57]

 

[Granville57]

Weather San Remo

Saturday

10°C / 16°C
50°F / 61°F


steephill.tv
http://www.steephill.tv/classics/milan-san-remo/

Start time: Saturday 10:00 CET
Earliest live video: 14:15 CET
Approximate finish 17:00 CET

 

[who dat]

Haussler FTW!! I know their are other riders that can beat him, if boonen was fit I would have chosen him, having said that I think haussler will win after a strong leadout from hushovd

 

[Frosty]

Haussler ftw. Wonder if Bennati is worth betting for a podium place - seemed to do ok in the desert but struggled at T-A. 5th and 6th in the last two years in this race, there will be someone going faster at the end.

Peter Velits is my outside bet. Group breaks away towards the end, he joins them to give HTC another option in case it doesnt come back together. He is able to do little work so arrives at the finish fresher than Ballan/Gilbert and just pips them in the sprint for the line.

 

[thrawn]

A Haussler, Goss, Freire podium.

 

[LukeSchmid]

A Haussler, Goss, Freire podium.

I was just about to post exactly the same thing. I think all three have an excellent chance and Haussler the best chance.

 

[ak-zaaf]

I think he is more likely than Gilbert. The climb is not descisive enough for Gilbert for it to be an advantage over other punchers like Gilbert or Pozzato. The less steeper climbs Ballan is better at punching over than gilbert and on the flat finish Ballan is quite quick.

Shall I remind you of De Ronde in 2007 or Varese in 2008?

Not being able to get rid of, and almost losing a sprint to, Leif friggin Hoste?

Wow

 

[Ferminal]

Ventoso FTW... Probably a better chance of winning that Rojas.

 

[Ferminal]

Live Video again from Gazzetta (1430 CET), once again proving RCS is the best race organiser by some margin.

Someone tell me when they are near the Cipressa!

CN is running a ticker all day long, so tune in to Dan or the usual Gazzetta and Biciciclismo ones.

http://live.cyclingnews.com/
http://www.gazzetta.it/Speciali/MilanoSanremo/19-03-2011/milano-sanremo-numero-102-80538262573.shtml
http://www.biciciclismo.com/cas/site/noticias-ficha.asp?id=35722

 

[Tuarts]

Ventoso FTW... Probably a better chance of winning that Rojas.

Oi, he's my smokey. Kept it quiet so no one would pick him for VG

 

[jens_attacks]

i'd like manuel belletti to get the win.and i'm 100% certain that pirazzi will attack on poggio.

my top3:

Alessandro Petacchi
Robbie McEwen
Allan Davis

 

[Mellow Velo]

Watching Rai Sport 2's showing the past ten years of the race has been kind of depressing.
The forumula:
All day nobody break caught by the Cipressa. Attacks kick off, gets quite interesting. Over the top, a second group of well known puncheurs forms.
Taken back by the peloton around Arma di Taggia.
Onto the Poggio, more animation. Sometimes a single rider gets away, sometimes a small group. Cue Paolo Bettini.

Now, the problem: None of the riders involved can downhill like Sean Kelly.
Small gap stalemate.
Off the Poggio, break wants to do a bit of glass cranking, or the individual runs out of steam, while some no hopers pull the peloton up.

Someone may try a rare, Tscmill/Cancellara move.
More often than not: buncho sprinto.

Can Gilbert break the pattern? I'd like to think so............but I don't.

 

[Christian]

More often than not: buncho sprinto.

Can Gilbert break the pattern? I'd like to think so............but I don't.

lol.

On the other hand it's nice to see Gilbert beaten every now and then ... doesn't happen too often anymore

 

[Havetts]

lol.

On the other hand it's nice to see Gilbert beaten every now and then ... doesn't happen too often anymore

Doesnt happen too often anymore with the sprinters in MSR, right ?

 

[ak-zaaf]

4 leaders: Allessandro De Marchi, Nico Sijmens, Takaschi Miyazawa, Mikhail Ignatiev 13 mionutes ahead of the bunch.
First hour done at 47,1 km/h

 

[LukeSchmid]

Ideally a few riders will get away and with 2 km it looks like they most likely be caught but with 1 Km to go it is less certain. The peloton charges, the sprinters are forced to go early they catchtry to catch the group in the last 100m. The best sprinter and the strongest from the group hit the line together with no one sure who has won. Did Gilbert or Ballan or whoever hold on or did Cav or Farrar or Friere or Haussler or whoever just get there in time.

 

[El Pistolero]

lol.

On the other hand it's nice to see Gilbert beaten every now and then ... doesn't happen too often anymore

It happens too often if you ask me

Just imagine if Milan-San Remo ended on the Poggio or at the bottem of the descend. Wouldn't even be a competition anymore

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

lol.

On the other hand it's nice to see Gilbert beaten every now and then ... doesn't happen too often anymore

Hmm? Happened more often than not in the Tirreno finishes...

 

[Anonymous]

When does the live coverage start?

I think this is going to be a really exciting race, I'd say Haussler is the favourite (for me anyway) but anything can happen over 298km and there's heaps of riders who can win

What website will be showing live coverage?

All of our live feeds are now up and running ready for this afternoon

http://www.teamskyfans.com/live.html

Rai expected to have pictures from about 1415cet, eurosport from about 1445cet