Milano - Sanremo: March 20, 2021

[Gigs_98]

Just a thought but I would really love to see a serious Cipressa attack again. The last time that happened was before I started watching this race and I would simply really like to see the dynamic of this race if there is a serious chance a late break could stay away. One of those things I would just really like to wittness once in my life

 

[danielovichdk2]

What i have seen so far this season it would come as no surprise that an attack from far out will stick.

There is a small tailwind all day tomorrow so a group will have no problem keeping the peloton away, and if a few of the bigger guys join in an attack, it has a potential to become very interesting.

WvA is suppose to peak from tomorrow i read somewhere and as he won in 2020 which was a totally different time of year, but he is clearly a favourite.

Gaudy is my outsider pick

 

[nbfc1962]

Is there any official pdf for the startlist?Those in the official website don't seems much reliable

 

[tobydawq]

Is there any official pdf for the startlist?Those in the official website don't seems much reliable

Pcs.

 

[tobydawq]

What i have seen so far this season it would come as no surprise that an attack from far out will stick.

There is a small tailwind all day tomorrow so a group will have no problem keeping the peloton away, and if a few of the bigger guys join in an attack, it has a potential to become very interesting.

WvA is suppose to peak from tomorrow i read somewhere and as he won in 2020 which was a totally different time of year, but he is clearly a favourite.

Gaudy is my outsider pick

Really? Gaudu? Okay.

 

[glowder]

Does anyone know which live feed will work in the United States?

 

[RedheadDane]

Gaudy is my outsider pick

I wouldn't bet money on that, if I were you.

 

[Skalman]

Does anyone know which live feed will work in the United States?

GCN racing have the rights to this race in the US

 

[Zoetemelk-fan]

C'mon...it will be not a MSR without Ala accelerating like crazy on Poggio. I think Ala will launch his trademark sprint 500m from the top with Van der Poel following for sure. Don't know about Wout Van Aert. Last year he couldn't follow Ala on Poggio and got back on descent. If Ala and Van der Poel collaborate maybe this time he will not be this lucky.

Also, I agree that Ballerini is Quickstep best bet(I don't trust Ala beating Van der Poel in a sprint). I see him as the strongest sprinter right now and he will not have problems going over the top with the peloton. Bennett never contested the sprint in San Remo and I don't see a reason to be different this time.

500m before the top is too late for Ala, having MVdP on his wheel. If Ala should have any chance, he should have a go just before the 8% part.

 

[Zoetemelk-fan]

Havent catched up the full thread, but regarding all the proposals for new route to 'spice things up', I'm totally against it. Then it will not be M-Sr, but something else.
The beauty of this monument is the feature finish with a mix of sprinters, classics riders and GT riders fighting for victory after an exhausting distance.
That's what makes the beauty of La Primavera.
Call me a boomer, but don't touch my cornerstone.

 

[Earns1985]

Havent catched up the full thread, but regarding all the proposals for new route to 'spice things up', I'm totally against it. Then it will not be M-Sr, but something else.
The beauty of this monument is the feature finish with a mix of sprinters, classics riders and GT riders fighting for victory after an exhausting distance.
That's what makes the beauty of La Primavera.
Call me a boomer, but don't touch my cornerstone.

I agree with nearly everything you wrote. I would just exclude the GT rider out of your argumentation. Nibali had been the only real GT rider who won this race in the last 30 years. And the majority of the GT riders aren´t even riding this race. It´s a race sprinters against punchers.

 

[Sciatic]

Just a thought but I would really love to see a serious Cipressa attack again. The last time that happened was before I started watching this race and I would simply really like to see the dynamic of this race if there is a serious chance a late break could stay away. One of those things I would just really like to wittness once in my life

Aside from the length of the flat section between Cipressa and Poggio, and the shallowness of the climb, the other thing that really works against Cipressa attacks is that the peloton is typically still huge at that point in the race, with lots of big sprinters teams very invested in keeping it together. Certainly none of the other monuments have a peloton that large approaching the final key sections of the race (ok, maybe LBL in a few of the bad editions).
It just makes it too easy to reel in solo attackers or small groups. But I with you in wishing we could see it succeed!

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

My main hope is that we get any type of race other than 1, 2 or 3 of the big three going clear on the poggio and going on to win. I don’t care if it’s an unexpected group on the poggio, a freak earlier attack, the sprinters contesting it. Anything. It’s probably a forlorn hope though.

 

[WKA311]

Just a thought but I would really love to see a serious Cipressa attack again. The last time that happened was before I started watching this race and I would simply really like to see the dynamic of this race if there is a serious chance a late break could stay away. One of those things I would just really like to wittness once in my life

Ganna.

 

[Leinster]

My main hope is that we get any type of race other than 1, 2 or 3 of the big three going clear on the poggio and going on to win. I don’t care if it’s an unexpected group on the poggio, a freak earlier attack, the sprinters contesting it. Anything. It’s probably a forlorn hope though.

How big of a group would the 3 of them have to be in for it to be acceptable? In any 4 or 5-man group, the others would obviously be the equivalent of Dilier at Roubaix in 18 or Mohoric at Liege last year; well done you for getting into this group, but everybody knows you aren't going to win.

I'd think you'd need a group of at least 7 or 8, with somebody disrupting the podium, before you can say the big 3 didn't have it all their own way.

 

[jaylew]

As usual with MSR, who knows?

Obvious faves, especially if a Poggio break is again successful
*VDP, WVA, Alaphilippe

Could maybe make it in a small-ish group and win from that group
****Ballerini, Matthews

Most likely sprinters to win if a good sized group is there in the end
***Kristoff, Bennett, Ewan

Other fast guys and attackers that could conceivably win with some luck
**GVA, Sagan, Kwia, Bettiol, Schachmann, Laporte, Colbrelli, Ackermann, Démare, Degenkolb, Bouhanni, Nizzolo, Trentin

Too early or too late for them but stranger things have happened
*Gilbert, Nibali, Pidcock, Higuita

 

[BlueRoads]

I'm pretty sure Matthews would be my fourth pick after the obvious three.

But yeah, what they write about Alaphilippe is absolutely ridiculous. "Oh, I see, no good stage placings in the Tour de La Provence or Omloop - apart from third on Mont Ventoux, granted - must have sucked." 70 km break on stage 1, puncture in the finale of stage 2, strongest man in the Omloop.

By the way, I'm withdrawing my bet. Matthews has a very good chance to get fourth. I just don't really see a scenario, where he wins, because either the three make it, or it's bunch sprint, and in a bunch sprint I'm giving others the edge over him this year.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

How big of a group would the 3 of them have to be in for it to be acceptable? In any 4 or 5-man group, the others would obviously be the equivalent of Dilier at Roubaix in 18 or Mohoric at Liege last year; well done you for getting into this group, but everybody knows you aren't going to win.

I'd think you'd need a group of at least 7 or 8, with somebody disrupting the podium, before you can say the big 3 didn't have it all their own way.

Yeah, it seems hard to imagine the usual route a “hanger on” to a super-elite group would have to victory - a late attack while the favourites stare at each other - working against these boys.

 

[tobydawq]

By the way, I'm withdrawing my bet. Matthews has a very good chance to get fourth. I just don't really see a scenario, where he wins, because either the three make it, or it's bunch sprint, and in a bunch sprint I'm giving others the edge over him this year.

Matthews will show Mathieu his heels at the top of the Poggio!

 

[Koronin]

I think Cortina is a good shout for a dark horse actually. He's got a sprint, can get over the Poggio and if it's a reduced bunch after 300km it's anyones guess who's going to win. It'd likely need to all go his way and end up in a group without any other big names, which is highly unlikely, but it'd be cool to see him win.

Thanks. So hoping for a top 10 is at least realist.

 

[Red Rick]

I don't understand why people want Cipressa attacks.

I prefer the hype of Cipressa without any substance thank you bery much

 

[titan31]

For me if someone attacks early on the Cipressa, QS should get Stybar or Asgreen on their wheels and work with them and leave it up to Alpecin or Jumbo to chase. Then Ala can attack and if he can't distance WVA or VDP, hope that Ballerini or Bennett are still there. Not sure if they can oursprint WVA anyway after 299km but better shot than Ala.

 

[Leinster]

Yeah, it seems hard to imagine the usual route a “hanger on” to a super-elite group would have to victory - a late attack while the favourites stare at each other - working against these boys.

It's a good and bad thing about them. They don't play cat-and-mouse like GVA vs Sagan. They just roll and whoever wins, wins; I think that's something we can definitely say is part of the Cyclocross thing.

The downside is, the chances for the surprise winner are greatly reduced. Even if a Ciolek or Gerro were to sit on Wout's wheel all the way down the Poggio, he still might not have enough speed to beat Wout and MvP and Alaf in the sprint.


Oh, and Bennett isn't optimistic about the bunch's chances;

Sam Bennett: Milan-San Remo is the sprinters' Monument but I can't see it

Irishman aware of prevailing conditions on the Poggio

www.cyclingnews.com

 

[Sciatic]

For me if someone attacks early on the Cipressa, QS should get Stybar or Asgreen on their wheels and work with them and leave it up to Alpecin or Jumbo to chase. Then Ala can attack and if he can't distance WVA or VDP, hope that Ballerini or Bennett are still there. Not sure if they can oursprint WVA anyway after 299km but better shot than Ala.

Why do you think it would just be left to those two teams? All the sprinters’ teams will chase and their selected lineups are typically built to do so.

 

[BlueRoads]

There might be a chance for a "surprise" winner through tactics in the end. Well, I don't think anybody can be better on the poggio than the B3, but if two or three more guys can stay in sight, pretty close behind, like Higuita maybe, Schachmann, Matthews, and Malawout don't go all out and are caught, then in a sprint van der Poel is not the best in tactics, van Aert is better in positioning in a bunch sprint than in timing and tactics in a small group in my opinion, and Ala has become pretty good at tactics, but might lose his brain again... then something like Roglic in LBL can happen. I don't find it probable, though.