Finally, we have Milan-Sanremo. I hope pedale.forcetta is ready to shoot some pictures, especially black and white because it will be cold and possibly wet. Throw in a little wind and a race of this distance will weed out the less hardy. Recently, but not too recently, this race would be won out of a decent size field sprint. And yet, besides Fabs winning in 2008 it does come down to a sprint finish of some size. That race was setting up for a field sprint when Cancellara bolted and no one could catch him. The solo charge to the finish just doesn’t seem to work here. It is such an interesting race because the finish is unlike any of the other monuments. Moreno Argentin lost the race because he was not as good as descender as Kelly. Getting down the Cipressa and Poggio well is not easy. The descents are tight narrow Italian roads, hairpin turns, madness. Fabs and Sagan are two excellent descenders and Sagan has a killer sprint. NIbali just won Terreno. Thor has recovered. Boonen is back with Cavendish, on the same team! Gilbert is wearing the rainbow jersey. Andy Schleck has pre-dropped out. God Damnit, if you are going to get up at some weird hour of the night to watch a race this year, this is it people.
An American has never won one of cycling’s monuments and Sunday’s race does not seem to be where it is going to happen. Tyler Farrar would have to latch onto a special train and surely Cancellara will not be towing people to the line this year. The odds of Australian riders winning the last two editions were very long but it demonstrates how exciting and unpredictable this race is.
Here is the incomplete start list, it will be updated when available. No Delgados, no whining, the betting window is now open. Get you picks in before the countdown timer goes to zero at midnight Pacific Time. The winner of this event is awarded the MSR comment badge for the remainder of the season.
Here is a little video from last year, interesting more for the behind the scenes action and the amount of bleeped out cursing.
[vsp_results id=”22700″/]
I know as well as any of you that I've been checked out lately, kind…
Peter Sagan has undergone quite the transformation over the years; starting as a brash and…
The Women's road race has to be my favorite one-day road race after Paris-Roubaix and…
Holy fuckballs. I've never been this late ever on a VSP. I mean, I've missed…
This week we are currently in is the most boring week of the year. After…
I have memories of my life before Cycling, but as the years wear slowly on…
View Comments
Oh come on...
"Erik Dekker, the DS at Blanco, has been complaining about the whether, saying that some riders have been crying on their bikes."
Have to say, this guy looks like he could be ready to turn on the waterworks. http://t.co/6Tot6g7AKH
Rule 5 gentlemen, otherwise there's whisky and a revolver under the driver's seat.
Suggested addition to rule 24 - all temperatures to be referred to and measured in Celcius.
Holy Rule #9 barman! Here's a look at Taylor Phinney as he stepped on the bus.
https://twitter.com/taylorphinney/status/313261700155592704/photo/1
Here's the actual image now that I'm not trying to do this via phone.
Twitter hashtag #MSR is full of nasty images. Looks like this classic has finally found an addition to suite the hardmen. Should be interesting to see what things look like on the Capi on the second half of the race.
Ha.
Roger De Vlaeminck on twitter: What a mess, this Milano-San Remo. The riders are so frozen they can't even tweet anymore!
Not being able to see any video coverage of the race (suggestions for a US source???), I'm curious as to what changes to the bikes they may have made for this weather. Would you ride different tires for snowy climbs, or do you just assume that the ones you normally use will handle it? Do you need to worry about the derailleurs icing up and jamming? Is it possible to put a heated cab on the bike? Enquiring Minds want to know!
They are only racing for 85KM now. Restart at 15.00 CET. Looks like a bunch sprint / bun fight is going to decide it.
@ralph
don't know for sure if http://www.stopstream.com works in the us
I think I'd rather see them call the whole thing off than carry on with a fiasco. It's like reducing a Test match to a 20 over slog..