Milano - Sanremo 2022, one day classic, March 19

[jaylew]

He tried his best. Also needed to work on cobbles. Sanremo heavily rewarsds good positioning. Thats why Roglic blew up in the end

I've watched it a few times and I'm just not buying that. Maybe the cobbled race hurt him but not positioning

 

[Pantani_lives]

Roglic attacked for himself. He could have saved that energy to work for Van Aert after the Poggio.

 

[Big Doopie]

I'm not the only one to notice that MSR hasn't been a true sprinters' race for a while. Just a decade ago it seemed like a surprise whenever a sprinter didn't win this race.



I don't know about you but I'd prefer to be able to do the latter without having to do the former.

it only became a sprinters race year in year out when sprinters like Cipo etc could make it over the Poggio close to the best. That, in my mind and based on what was behind those otherworldly performances by sprinters, led to more bunch sprints.

things have kind of returned to how it used to play out in the old days. Always good to see.

 

[fbjim]

Roglic attacked for himself. He could have saved that energy to work for Van Aert after the Poggio.

Roglic paced it and created a gap when WVA followed Pogacar's first attack. I really think WVA should have pushed that move.

 

[Netserk]

Other than in 2020 with the unusual calendar, when was the last time the winner of Milano-Sanremo didn't participate in neither Paris-Nice nor Tirreno-Adriatico?

 

[Big Doopie]

Roglic attacked for himself. He could have saved that energy to work for Van Aert after the Poggio.

Lol. He COUNTER-attacked at the perfect point. Pog had gone like three times and Rog attacked with his last breath to force others to plug the gap he created. It was perfect tactics.

also, just an observation, I think Rog has begun his gradual decline due to age. 2020 and 2021 were probably his top. Just a feeling I get from what I have watched so far. Oh he could still possibly win a Pog-less TDF, but the gap between the two has mightily grown imo.

 

[Rackham]

also, just an observation, I think Rog has begun his gradual decline due to age. 2020 and 2021 were probably his top. Just a feeling I get from what I have watched so far. Oh he could still possibly win a Pog-less TDF, but the gap between the two has mightily grown imo.

That would be a pretty sudden decline considering he was at his peak last September at the end of the Vuelta & for the two Italian classics.

Frankly even Wout van Aert looks a bit slower than his peak last year (his sprint seems to have regressed a little), so I think everything is simply down to Jumbo aiming for peak form later this year for both Rog & WvA.

 

[Eeslliw]

Roglic attacked for himself. He could have saved that energy to work for Van Aert after the Poggio.

Lol that was meme attack. He was cooked and attacked just to force some tempo again and that is it. He knew he was done.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

That would be a pretty sudden decline considering he was at his peak last September at the end of the Vuelta & for the two Italian classics.

Frankly even Wout van Aert looks a bit slower than his peak last year (his sprint seems to have regressed a little), so I think everything is simply down to Jumbo aiming for peak form later this year for both Rog & WvA.

yep. Jumbo even said they delayed the training WvA usually did before March to a later point to prevent him peaking on 1 march instead of RVV.

 

[Ricco']

Other than in 2020 with the unusual calendar, when was the last time the winner of Milano-Sanremo didn't participate in neither Paris-Nice nor Tirreno-Adriatico?

Claudio Chiapucci - 1991

 

[jaylew]

Lol. He COUNTER-attacked at the perfect point. Pog had gone like three times and Rog attacked with his last breath to force others to plug the gap he created. It was perfect tactics.

also, just an observation, I think Rog has begun his gradual decline due to age. 2020 and 2021 were probably his top. Just a feeling I get from what I have watched so far. Oh he could still possibly win a Pog-less TDF, but the gap between the two has mightily grown imo.

I think it may be that Pog is young and still improving and the gap between them is now bigger than the gap between Roglic and the next contenders wheras before we kinda thought that it was the 2 Slovenians then a gap.

 

[Red Rick]

Roglic attacked for himself. He could have saved that energy to work for Van Aert after the Poggio.

Lol.

Not tl mention Roglic would slow down the group on the descent.

Jumbos overall plan was very good for this race. Maybe they burnt up Laporte too early

 

[Descender]

it only became a sprinters race year in year out when sprinters like Cipo etc could make it over the Poggio close to the best. That, in my mind and based on what was behind those otherworldly performances by sprinters, led to more bunch sprints.

things have kind of returned to how it used to play out in the old days. Always good to see.

Not quite. MSR was regularly won by sprinters in the old days as well.

 

[Big Doopie]

That would be a pretty sudden decline considering he was at his peak last September at the end of the Vuelta & for the two Italian classics.

Frankly even Wout van Aert looks a bit slower than his peak last year (his sprint seems to have regressed a little), so I think everything is simply down to Jumbo aiming for peak form later this year for both Rog & WvA.

possibly. We will see.

also how would this be “sudden”. I said I thought he had started his gradual decline. So at this point it would be incremental. And if you compare last years PN and this years, well that would actually be just that the start of a gradual decline.

btw some declines happen incredibly suddenly: Merckx had probably the best spring a cyclist had ever had in 1975, he was in the yellow jersey and had dropped all his rivals and had 3km left on Pra Loup. He crumbled. And apart from a final MSR the next year he was never the same, not even close. Now THAT is sudden.

 

[Big Doopie]

Not quite. MSR was regularly won by sprinters in the old days as well.

merckx won all his seven alone or in a sprint from a small group.

Fignon won his two in a breakaway.

DeVlaeminck alone I think…

etc. etc

only in the Zabel, cipollini, Freire years was it consistently big sprints. And I am pretty sure why. It was an era when bigger riders could suddenly climb…

So I believe you are factually wrong when you assert that.

 

[Netserk]

merckx won all his seven alone or in a sprint from a small group.

Fignon won his two in a breakaway.

DeVlaeminck alone I think…

etc. etc

only in the Zabel, cipollini, Freire years was it consistently big sprints. And I am pretty sure why. It was an era when bigger riders could suddenly climb…

So I believe you are factually wrong when you assert that.

Largest bunch sprint was in the 1950's:

Milán San Remo: historia, evolución y alternativas al recorrido

Es un debate que ya lleva produciéndose durante muchos años, pero con el desastre organizativo de la inclusión / no inclusión de Pompeiana en la Milán – San Remo 2014 y el resultado de ésta, …

plataformarecorridosciclistas.org

 

[sir fly]

Largest bunch sprint was in the 1950's:

Milán San Remo: historia, evolución y alternativas al recorrido

Es un debate que ya lleva produciéndose durante muchos años, pero con el desastre organizativo de la inclusión / no inclusión de Pompeiana en la Milán – San Remo 2014 y el resultado de ésta, …

plataformarecorridosciclistas.org

What was the route like in the '50s?

 

[ice&fire]

What was the route like in the '50s?

Poggio was added in '61, Cipressa in '82

 

[Rackham]

possibly. We will see.

also how would this be “sudden”. I said I thought he had started his gradual decline. So at this point it would be incremental. And if you compare last years PN and this years, well that would actually be just that the start of a gradual decline.

btw some declines happen incredibly suddenly: Merckx had probably the best spring a cyclist had ever had in 1975, he was in the yellow jersey and had dropped all his rivals and had 3km left on Pra Loup. He crumbled. And apart from a final MSR the next year he was never the same, not even close. Now THAT is sudden.

Roglic has some (relative) "lows" during his usual seasons so his form in 2022 doesn't make me think something deeper is happening.

His 2021 season for example is littered with huge peaks & then some random no-shows like Liège last April (& Lombardia as well). He has a high baseline but his stratospheric peaks make his "normal" days or weeks look subpar by comparison. Even his first week in the Vuelta wasn't extraordinary (he never attacked on the first summit finishes or gapped anyone). He then proceeded to totally dominate in week 2 & 3.

I know he's 32, but considering he arrived late in the game I'm not ready to see that performance drop just yet & I certainly don't believe that's the case either.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Congratulations to Matej Mohorič for winning Milano-Sanremo.

It was an exciting race to watch especially when nearing Cipressa. Pogačar did what we all expected from him to do. UAE reduced the bunch and if opportunity would emerge i am sure that he would try to go solo. The same on Poggio. UAE reduced the bunch and Pogačar tried multiple times. The terrain and competition just didn't allow for more. Both van Aert and van der Poel looked really strong. Rogla was here as support for van Aert and IMHO he did a good job. His job was to bring van Aert through Cipressa and if possible Poggio and for van Aert to still be in good position. After that his job was done and i honestly don't see what some expect Rogla could do for van Aert after. Or to make some comparison to other GC riders when he clearly was not on this race for his own ambitions. And still he was right there with the rest till the end. As for Mohorič and what one needs to understand is he survived two selections. On descending he is the one that made a difference. Not some motorcycle in front. It was Mohorič who was prepared to risk it all. Competition wasn't up to the task. To take such risk. Mohorič himself said he will never again risk that much in a race.

Fully deserved and chapeau!

 

[gregrowlerson]

Crazy risks:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1505230316847480834

View: https://twitter.com/foliforofo/status/1505230316847480834?s=20&t=Xg1ijuI5WN-P0NHlQr05pQ

https://twitter.com/x/status/1505211431456841729

View: https://twitter.com/inrng/status/1505211431456841729?s=20&t=hepuxxByp5XIP5ks642Ebw


From the moment where Mohoric attacked:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1505226922283909135

View: https://twitter.com/Milano_Sanremo/status/1505226922283909135?s=20&t=Xg1ijuI5WN-P0NHlQr05pQ

Nice shares, thanks!

 

[KZD]

I rewatched the final again and I think the motorbikes were too close in the second to last km and that helped Mohoric, though I don't think that they were a factor on the descend itself as Mohoric was descending as a madman.

 

[skippo12]

A sprint with 25-30 riders is still a realistic scenario but a number of good sprinters with decent endurance + climbing ability missed the race. Arnaud Demare improved a lot but if he can make the selection after the Cipressa many others can do the same. And if they can limit the gap on the Poggio to 5-10s like Demare today they can also catch a single rider or a small group.
The Poggio is a small hill. Not the Mur.

 

[movingtarget]

The Third Slovenian would be a good title for a thriller.

Slovenian Takeover might be a better one.................

 

[Velolover2]

Great win by Mohoric. MSR is truly a lottery.

The beauty of this race is the shallow hills. Pog tried like.. 4 times? But couldn't get a proper gap.

By making it tougher and adding more hills, you would make it less great and turn it into another Ardennes classics.