Milano - Sanremo: March 23rd, 2019

[Wvv]

Jezus, ... there's nothing you can do about Alaphilippe right now, is there?
And Sagan, well, cursed in this race I guess.

Belgium quite close to a long awaited win in Sanremo, with a pleasingly strong Van Aert and a magnificent Naesen. Expected a bit more from GVA, but he started the Poggio too far away from the front.

 

[SafeBet]

People will never understand that sprinting after 300km is like a different sport. Nibali beat Trentin and was almost on Valverde's level. Sagan has been consistently beaten by slower guys in Sanremo. It was not just a matter of being boxed in, he didn't have the legs.

There is a reason Alaphilippe was the favorite, i.e. he's the strongest rider in the world at the moment.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Sagan watched Valverde the entire time before launching.

 

[alspacka]

Bit of a disappointing sprint considering the strength of the group, lots of nerves and hesitation, but a decent edition nonetheless and Alaphilippe marches on.

Not sure what more you expect from a sprint in such a group. Half those dudes made that group on talent and being on the right wheel when their peak this season is gonna be a few weeks to a month from now.

I guess so. It just seemed like no one went until late so they only reached top speed right at the line. Might be something to do with me hoping Sagan would finally get it done though.

 

[AQETUYIOI]

Re:

Sagan has been consistently beaten by slower guys in Sanremo. It was not just a matter of being boxed in, he didn't have the legs.

He was fast at the end, he just gave them to much of a head start.

 

[yaco]

Trentin is tactically naive at the end of a big race - he was the second fastest in that group, so no need to attack with 2kms to go.

 

[tobydawq]

I don't think Sagan's acceleration is that good. It was a problem for him that the pace was as low as it was. In my opinion, he should not have let go of Alaphilippe's wheel when he closed to him and Mohoric with 700 metres to go. That's easy to say now but there was no reason to take the front.

And that he looks the wrong way when Mohoric launches his sprint too early is just hopelessly unlucky. Then he even gets boxed in between Mohoric and Kwiatkowski and loses momentum once more, and he regains it too late.

Jesus, I have a hard time living with yet another near-miss where he should have won.

It's even more frustrating because Daniel Oss was extremely close to catching up after the descent. Had he been there in the finale, it would have been much more straight-forward and Sagan would have had a harder time screwing up.

And wow, the sprinters got murdered! Insane attack by Alaphilippe on the Poggio and nice to see that Sagan didn't have problems following him. At least it bodes well for the cobbles.

Where was Greg?

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

People will never understand that sprinting after 300km is like a different sport. Nibali beat Trentin and was almost on Valverde's level. Sagan has been consistently beaten by slower guys in Sanremo. It was not just a matter of being boxed in, he didn't have the legs.

There is a reason Alaphilippe was the favorite, i.e. he's the strongest rider in the world at the moment.

No. Because it isn't. They are averaging 150 watts the first 4 hours. It doesn't mean that much.

It's hard because the last 10 kilometres have been hard, not because they have ridden 300 kilometres.

Trentin had just been on the solo attack. Nibali was not close to Valverde. Sagan was boxed in.

 

[THEORYY]

Peter, Peter what the hell was that...

 

[krakenKE]

Re:

I don't think Sagan's acceleration is that good. It was a problem for him that the pace was as low as it was. In my opinion, he should not have let go of Alaphilippe's wheel when he closed to him and Mohoric with 700 metres to go. That's easy to say now but there was no reason to take the front.

And that he looks the wrong way when Mohoric launches his sprint too early is just hopelessly unlucky. Then he even gets boxed in between Mohoric and Kwiatkowski and loses momentum once more, and he regains it too late.

Jesus, I have a hard time living with yet another near-miss where he should have won.

It's even more frustrating because Daniel Oss was extremely close to catching up after the descent. Had he been there in the finale, it would have been much more straight-forward and Sagan would have had a harder time screwing up.

And wow, the sprinters got murdered! Insane attack by Alaphilippe on the Poggio and nice to see that Sagan didn't have problems following him. At least it bodes well for the cobbles.

Where was Greg?

Totally agree with this. With his showing on Poggio he should be very good on cobbles in next weeks.

 

[gunara]

.....he just gave them to much of a head start.

...maybe that's what made him fast at the end, you never know how much he had to sustain the top speed, he didn't look super to me.

 

[Valv.Piti]

I honestly feel bad for Sagan altho Im not a big fan of his, but why was he so fixated on Valverde, a rider who has lost some sprinting ability and is known (as Sagan) to someway mess it up in the end of a big race. Still, I really hope he just wins one MSR altho one could argue 3 wins should be the absolute minimum at the end of his career for a rider like him. I dont know if he will ever figure this race out - he was, along with Julian, the strongest rider. Therefore he obviously should have won condering the race suits him better and he was the fastest in the end.

Greg has never really been god in this race, I think its too easy for him before Poggio. That might explain why he never seems to be able to do something on Poggio, not even 2017-Greg.

 

[bigcog]

Thought Kwiato was going to sneak that but probably came from too far back. Race needs another climb at least.

 

[Emotional Cobble Guy]

Re:

Where was Greg?

Yeah. Where was he? He should have made the cut normally... However this edition i saw him too often, as on the Poggio, out of position. Bad day?
Quite dissapointing, it was a good sprint opportunity for him

 

[Pantani_lives]

Alaphilippe is a worthy winner. I thought he was more suited for Liège, but he has proven that he can handle all the non-cobbled classics now. His punch on the Poggio wasn't enough to get away alone. In theory he wasn't the fastest in that group, but he stayed cool and did everything right. Sagan lost Alaf's wheel 300 m before the finish and had to start the sprint from an impossiblle position. Maybe the stress was too much for him today?

Naesen and Van Aert are great surprises; I didn't expect them in the first group.

 

[Robert5091]

Chapeau Ala & QS (again) - Mohorič, Van Aert & Naesen surprises at the end.

 

[tobydawq]

Alaphilippe's average watts for the race was 170.

And people call this a hard race...

 

[Brullnux]

Sagan made a mistake in the last km but what was Trentin doing? I know it's a long race so sprint capabilities change, but surely he would've been one of the favourites for the win had he not put in that pretty pointless attack with 2km to go, which lasted almost a whole kilometre with about a two second lead.

Great performance by alaphilippe, already proving himself more versatile than bala Mohoric also good and a classic Nibali performance, top 10 despite not being in particularly good form.

 

[Brullnux]

Re:

Alaphilippe's average watts for the race was 170.

And people call this a hard race...

iF YouRe NoT doInG 6 wATtS/kG iT's NOt a HarD rAce, DistAnCE dOesN'T maTtER

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

Alaphilippe's average watts for the race was 170.

And people call this a hard race...

iF YouRe NoT doInG 6 wATtS/kG iT's NOt a HarD rAce, DistAnCE dOesN'T maTtER

No. Why would it matter that it's 300 kilometers when the race is shorter in time than the other long races and the workload is just infinitely smaller?

And he wasn't even doing 3...

 

[Climbing]

Incredible that Nibali and Valverde, both our of form, made it in 7th and 8th.
Pure, pure class, if there was any doubt.
Dumo as well in 11th.

 

[Wvv]

Re:

Greg has never really been good in this race, I think its too easy for him before Poggio. That might explain why he never seems to be able to do something on Poggio, not even 2017-Greg.

Never really good? He was very close to winning in 2011 and was often prominent on the Poggio in following years. In 2016 he finished fifth. However you are right that a harder race suits him better than this long boring drag to a short final.

Where was Greg?

Yeah. Where was he? He should have made the cut normally... However this edition i saw him too often, as on the Poggio, out of position. Bad day?
Quite dissapointing, it was a good sprint opportunity for him

Today was exactly the same like two years ago. Bad positioning at the bottom of the Poggio, and the speed in front was too high to make his way up fast enough. Apparently he only just missed out on the decisive move, which is of course very sad. This kind of final, with a smaller group sprint, would be a perfect opportunity for him.

For the first time (!) in his carreer he was too disappointed to talk to the media after the race. I hope this sets his mind right for the coming races, they can only benefit from a hungry GVA.

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

Alaphilippe's average watts for the race was 170.

And people call this a hard race...

iF YouRe NoT doInG 6 wATtS/kG iT's NOt a HarD rAce, DistAnCE dOesN'T maTtER

No. Why would it matter that it's 300 kilometers when the race is shorter in time than the other long races and the workload is just infinitely smaller?

And he wasn't even doing 3...

Pray tell, what race is longer in terms of time? All the other long races hover around the 6 hour mark, maybe slightly less, and this one is normally around 7 hours. The race is pretty easy, but the effect of the distance can be seen in a) the way that some sprinters are nowhere to be seen, b) gaps, sometimes big gaps, are made on a very soft climb, and c) final sprints are almost always unpredictable, or won by riders famed for their stamina.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

Incredible that Nibali and Valverde, both our of form, made it in 7th and 8th.
Pure, pure class, if there was any doubt.
Dumo as well in 11th.

It's a funny race. Hilly ability ends on top on the Poggio.

I agree that it's an easy race in terms of work rate. Maybe the easy time on the flat makes it easier for the smaller riders to shine on the Poggio?

These hilly riders end up riding against big dudes and sprinters, so it's not like they're dropping other climbers.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

Alaphilippe's average watts for the race was 170.

And people call this a hard race...

iF YouRe NoT doInG 6 wATtS/kG iT's NOt a HarD rAce, DistAnCE dOesN'T maTtER

No. Why would it matter that it's 300 kilometers when the race is shorter in time than the other long races and the workload is just infinitely smaller?

And he wasn't even doing 3...

Pray tell, what race is longer in terms of time? All the other long races hover around the 6 hour mark, maybe slightly less, and this one is normally around 7 hours. The race is pretty easy, but the effect of the distance can be seen in a) the way that some sprinters are nowhere to be seen, b) gaps, sometimes big gaps, are made on a very soft climb, and c) final sprints are almost always unpredictable, or won by riders famed for their stamina.

The sprinters have to turn themselves inside out on the Poggio. I imagine the 7 hours of 150W and the few hills in there also do a number on their recovery after a hill like that.