Milano - Sanremo: March 20, 2021

[DaveJones2]

Ewan's presence in the lead group on cresting the Poggio dictated all events thereafter really; set up perfectly for an attack by someone like Stuyven in last 2-3km. Very well played by him.

If only Pidcock could have followed when he had the opportunity....

 

[Jagartrott]

That group wasn't going to let Alaphilippe, MVDP or Van Aert ride away. Stuyven timed it well, then got lucky Kragh bridged, then was cool as a cucumber to stay in the wheels long enough. I think he was completely cooked, but as a sort-of-sprinter, he still had that little bit of punch left.

Ewan looked insanely strong. I think he could've even accelarated more at the end of the Poggio.

 

[jmdirt]

Never would gave predicted this. Van der Poel really needs to position himself better to win this classic.
Anyway, on to the cobbles.

After six plus hours of racing VdP didn't decide his positioning.

 

[Bonimenier]

Van Aert closed the gap on Pidcock. Possibly he should have kept going when he did that because he had a gap on the others.

 

[HelloDolly]

4. Pidcock has the tactical sense of a brick

This is Pidcock first year in the World Tour

He is 21 years old

This is his first MSR

He beat most of the field including Allaphillipe

Cut the guy some slack ...He is an amasing talent and he will win this race yet

Bit of a ridiculous thing to say tbh ...

What is more he will beat the over hyped Evenepol in races like this is in the future

 

[hayneplane]

If ever a sprinter deserved to win this race it was Caleb Ewan this year as normally they won by scrambling back on the descent and flat run in with team help yet today he looked as frisky as anyone on the Poggio.

Good signs for Sagan that he was not too much distanced on the Poggio and did a decent sprint at the end.

Congratulations to Stuyven for rolling the dice and coming up big with his late attack but can’t help feel like he got away with it because of a lack of cooperation behind.

Biggest disappointment was MVDP as I don’t think he was leading the pack trying to break away for even one second of the race.

A big takeaway for me is that maybe the big boys had that crucial zip sapped from their legs by the incredibly brutal and epic edition of Tirreno-Adriatico.

 

[movingtarget]

And what could he have done diffrently? What was his mistake in last 200m? Should he start sprinting earlier?

Well it was difficult for he and WVA as they were at the front of the chase group, they just left themselves too much to do while maybe paying too much attention to what was going on behind them. Even if Ewan jumped first he still may not have got there in time.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

I get the feeling he doesn't particularly like this race either. What I can't understand is why he starts the Poggio in 25th position. That cost him more than anything.
Tbh a win for VDP never looked on the cards today. 100 man on Cipressa is a bad sign for punchers.

Nice win by Stuyven, should be talked about much more. Perfectly timed attacked. Played it smart with Kragh.

I'm guessing, but I don't think he had the legs to do anything - and he knew it, and tried bluffing his way into contention; if he'd had good legs he'd surely try something and/or when he started his sprint he'd have got to Stuyven. Maybe he left his race in T-A...

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

This is Pidcock first year in the World Tour

He is 21 years old

This is his first MSR

He beat most of the field including Allaphillipe

Cut the guy some slack ...He is an amasing talent and he will win this race yet

Bit of a ridiculous thing to say tbh ...

What is more he will beat the over hyped Evenepol in races like this is in the future

Evenepol is only 21 years old.

He started winning WT races at 19 at his first try.

He beat the entire field including everyone.

He's been injured for 8 months.

Cut the guy some slack.

 

[DaveJones2]

Intrigued as to what the Ineos tactics were about. I'd guessed they were driving the pace up the Poggio to make sure either Kwiatco or Pidcock were at the front to either latch onto an attack by one of the usual suspects (or themselves); neither of them seemed to have the legs & neither would have won a reduced bunch sprint so why bother at all?

 

[Sestriere]

What a final! I friggin love this race

 

[jmdirt]

Under normal conditions, Stuyven is much faster, but as you can see, Stuyven had a huge gap and still SKA bridged very fast. You could see Stuyven bonk big time. SKA probably thought he had better odds beating a cooked Stuyven, than against a fresh Ewan, van Aert and van der Poel... wouldn't you?

Yes, after six hours on the bike they were fresh!

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Yes, after six hours on the bike they were fresh!

Compared to Stuyven, quite.

 

[meat puppet]

Van Aert closed the gap on Pidcock. Possibly he should have kept going when he did that because he had a gap on the others.

Yes, thought so too. He constantly seemed torn between going for it and waiting up.

Very glad for someone winning with a gutsy move and the big three not dominating.

 

[DaLong]

IMO Sagan 4th is the biggest story. Makes for an intriguing cobbled season.

 

[DaveJones2]

Congratulations to Stuyven for rolling the dice and coming up big with his late attack but can’t help feel like he got away with it because of a lack of cooperation behind.

I think that downplays the excellence of what he did to be fair. It was pretty obvious that no-one was going to intentionally drag Ewan to the finish, and the usual attackers such as WVA & VDP all back their sprint enough to not want to burn their matches ahead of a reduced bunch finish; so for anyone with the right combination of legs and tactical nous an attack at the right time was going to potentially be a race-winning move. The fact that only Stuyven (and SKA) had the legs to do this doesn't diminish his achievement.

 

[jmdirt]

Congrats to JS!

 

[jaylew]

This is Pidcock first year in the World Tour

He is 21 years old

This is his first MSR

He beat most of the field including Allaphillipe

Cut the guy some slack ...He is an amasing talent and he will win this race yet

Bit of a ridiculous thing to say tbh ...

What is more he will beat the over hyped Evenepol in races like this is in the future

I agree with most of this except maybe that last one as I don't believe Evenepoel is overhyped. And no guarantee he'll ever win here since it's such a crapshoot, but honestly, Pidcock is one of maybe 5 guys you could legitimately argue was the strongest guy n the race. And he's one of the few who actually tried something - twice.

 

[Keram]

Thrilling finale as always. Last minutes of this race are allways hectic and interesting. Deserved winner.

 

[yaco]

You have to wonder why Schackmann didn't lead out Sagan in the sprint ?

 

[Eyeballs Out]

Was Ewan in the first group after the Cipressa? I can't remember....

I didn't see him - it looked like the only Lotto riders there were Wellens and Degenkolb - but obviously he had the legs to be there. Don't think Colbrelli was in that front group either but he was obviously on a good day also whereas other sprinters who looked good on Cipressa like Demare, Kristoff, Laporte and Ackermann were absent in the finale

 

[tomorrow]

Ewan needed a team mate in the final km but he looked great on the climb. Matthews and Ewan both must be wondering what they have to do to win MSR.

yeah, they're exactly the ones to wonder, not the guy who was top 10 every time last decade and was predicted to equal the Zabel record by now. It's MSR, the easiest monument to finish, the most difficult one to win. Those two have definetely the skillset to win it, but the skill is just not enough in San Remo

 

[jaylew]

Ewan may have done better to disguise his strength a bit. Instead of sitting near the front announcing his presence, maybe he should have hung around near the back of that front group.

 

[Fernandez]

how is this race used to be hated few years ago and now is so loved?

 

[Samamba]

Was Ewan in the first group after the Cipressa? I can't remember....

He wasn't, he was in the 2nd group with De Buyst and Gilbert.
But I doubt that had anything to do with a moment of weakness. The bunch split in the decent and he was behind the split.