Velominati Super Prestige: Milan-Sanremo 2013
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.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHAKie2XiU0[/youtube]
[vsp_results id=”22700″/]
@motor city
@Skip
+1
Just back from a two hour hike with the VM and kiddos and now it is almost time for the Barca game to start! What a great day!!!
@Steampunk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsogswrH6ck
It’s all about expressing our opinions here, not discouraging free thought, or at least I thought so?
@Steampunk someone said it earlier, but to repeat, it is not the jacking in, it’s the whining which aggrieves more.
Ride bike is snow and freezing rain and then come home to watch other people doing the same thing only faster – I mean what more could you want out of a Sunday?
@the Engine chapeau. Would expect nothing less from a caledonian hardman though.
@the Engine
@Steampunk
All these are good reasons and make sense…right up until he started bleating about it. So it’s OK to (quite rightly) to slag off Schleck the younger when he whinges…but not Boonen….sorry, I prefer to be consistent with my criticism. He was not wrong to quit….many did….maybe my hardman view of him has been a little dented, but I will get over it, and if he redeems himself with a PR win I will wax lyrical about his performance but today, I am afraid he let his mouth run away with him and it never comes across well no matter who it is.
A trawl of tumblr throughs up some absolute gems…
[dmalbum: path=”/velominati.com/wp-content/uploads/readers/fleeting moment/2013.03.17.22.05.51/1/”/]
But I rather like this one, reputed to have been taken mid race when everyone else was looking miserable. Sagan might not have won but he’s fairly irrepressible.
@Deakus
He is a sprinter though, so his job is to try to hang onto whatever wheel he can get – he was the only sprinter that was able to do that – fair play to him – great race
Nearly froze to death this morning doing 70k, so really felt gfor those poor sods today!
Mystery ride of the day was Philly Gilbert – looked very comfortable off the Cipressa, then drifted back to the group and was never seen again??
Answers on a postcard
32
Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team
33
Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Lampre-Merida
When The Potato decides to follow a wheel, he sticks to it no matter what.
Does @Gianni get some to wear the Understatement Jersey for the following lines from the race description?
Of course, the race also weeded out Boonen, who appeared to be one of the Hardy Belgians (sorry for the redundancy), so I’d say it was more than a little difficult. The photos posted here are amazing.
@Russ
As my live vid feed died with 6 km to go I had no idea how close the sprint was. Wow! Amazing pic! Thanks for posting it!
I think you Boonen critics need to re-read his comment. My take on it is that he was criticizing the organisers for making decisions on the run when they would have known on the Saturday that the Turchino pass was impassable (or almost certain to be). To stop the race and re-route it is farcical when the decision could have been made before the race start.
I note there was a Katusha rider who finished on his own 3 minutes behind the next fella who was in turn 2 or so minutes behind a small group. Those boys would not have had a fun day.
Just because it was an hard day,
you are forgiven.
Pedale.Forchetta – Milano Sanremo 2013
@Russ
This does happen but I tend to wake up just as it gets interesting
@strathlubnaig
The ice on the edge of one’s kilt can cut the back of one’s legs if one isn’t careful.
BTW what was the event with all the walkers at the bottom of the Duke’s Pass – were you on duty today because if you were I’d have stopped at your bus and plead for a cup of tea.
Tyler Farrar and Johan Van Summeren. Ovada, Milano Sanremo 2013.
@the Engine I am currently offshore saving an oilfield, otherwise I would have been riding my bike.
I didn’t get to watch the race today (I was racing myself!), but it looked brutal! Chavanel showing he is still a contender!
hmmm, @Marcus comes out sounding like the voice of reason…strange days indeed.
Only 2 points off going back to back, reckon I’ll miss my little tricoloured boot, enjoy El Gato.
Cancellara does not look in the least bit cold, does he ?
@ralph
Yes I do! It’s quite an understated jersey too. I never would have guessed snow, March, Primavera. I’m still catching up here. I neglected to start watching at 10 pm and watch all night, being 12 hours out of phase. So after a nice ride this morning I saw the end on youtube. But all the ice and snow, you have to hand to all these pros, they would have kept riding until someone told them to stop. And tomeke is smart. He was riding this for training so no point in getting frozen to death on a training ride. MiniPhinney is all right, he will place in P-R this year, if Thor lets him.
This bodes well for further Spring Classics in shit weather. Maybe the KT 2013 will get a taste of wet P-R cobbles. No thank you.
I finally add a victory to my palmarès and I miss the whole thing! I couldn’t watch this morning and I just sat down to check results, photos and recaps. Cold, snow and hardmen dishing it out, what a day!
@Nate
That really sums up the race nicely, Nate.
I just checked out some photos pasted on steephill. My gosh, what a crazy day in the saddle, and on the bus! And, a darn close finish still. I think Pietro Sagan was saying, “I’m the fastest galloper right now, pass me if you can.”
@Ron And that was posted long before the finish!
Sagan pretty much had to jump when he did – Chavanel reared up and for all Sagan knew, he might have kept going…
@Gianni
Heaven help you all if it is wet and stinky on the KT this year – I’m off to church to pray for you all!
Scouring Twitter for MSR pics and saw this and laughed:
Try again…
@Chris
Love it. Had pie at the cafe stop too, funnily enough.
Some great photography from Jared Gruber here.
@PeakInTwoYears
That’s hilarious, Peak! Haha!
Shockingly it doesn’t look far off from the race yesterday.
-Dinan
@starclimber
Kinda like, “Hey Peter, how about that weather?” “Oh, I guess its cold, but this pie is awesome! Hey, let’s hurt everybody today, because, hell, I’m Peter Sagan.”
@Chris
Those are fantastic images, only problem is which to chose as screensaver
@Dinan
Messier to crawl inside a tauntaun, though.
@PeakInTwoYears
@Deakus
And obviously this then leads to the classic Velominati follow up to Rule #5
what a beautiful MSR
its about time we had a nasty spring classic, this one fulfilled our deepest and darkest desires to have a sufferfest!
agree, Sagan was very good
I disagree though on Spartacus, riding like a wet napkin. Listen, it was Sagans to lose, right?? Cancellara was a marked man in Bianchi-strada, and Sagan sucked his wheel like crazy…and granted, Cancellara is defending it. I think Cancellara was playing it well, and demanding someone else share in the work, and sure, throw it if he has to like he did one Paris-Roubaix due to the wheelsuckers on his tail. So, it is a smart tactic I thought, and Sagan performed to task, and had he timed it better, I think Sagan could have won it…..
but oh well, Ciolek better enjoy this win.
I mean he did win it, but man, did he hang off the back of the grouppo or what, I may have missed it as I DVR’d it, but did he pull any?? I will see tonight hopefully
A-fuckin-MEN. Bit here is stolen from cyclingnews link about Stannard. A true hardman who will hopefully be given the reins come RVV and PR.
Super Stannard
Ian Stannard finished sixth in Milan-San Remo but the result explains little about his incredible performance. His day out front, on the attack with Sylvain Chavanel, his audacious surge on the Poggio and even his last do or die move in the final two kilometres showed his huge potential for when races become a battle between the hard men of the peloton.
While Edvald Boasson Hagen cracked in the cold and rain, and other Team Sky riders crashed and suffered, Stannard seemed to enjoy it more and more.
Whenever rain is forecast, Team Sky should make Stannard automatic team leader.
@Buck Rogers Wasn’t it Stannard who came in 2nd in KBK a couple years ago to Traksel when only 30 dudes finished the race?
@Nate Yup.
A merckx on Stannard, a true hardman, he drilled it and really earned respect from the breakaway
I mean, when he had nothing in the tank, he was just plowing that 53×11 for all he was worth and nearly pulled it out
@Nate
Fucking LOVIN Stannard. Yeah, I think that he was actually 3rd in KBK during that freezing hurricane two years ago but it was just awesome! The guy is as hard as nails. There used to be a youtube vid of the KBK post-race interview with Stannard that I had on my favorites list so that I could watch it anytime I felt like being a nancy and not training but now I cannot find the vid anymore. All I can find is photos form the race.
Well, as long as it was a colon problem, you know, I completely understand.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/lefevere-defends-boonens-decision-to-abandon-milan-san-remo
And what the fuck is up with that helmet that Boonen is wearing in the picture???
@Pedale.Forchetta
Well it’s not great, but it’s a damn sight better than the thing Wiggins had on the back of his bike a few months ago.
I’m turning a deaf ear to the Boonen-haters out there. The spring classics are his happy hunting ground. With luck, he gets P-R #5 this year. I doubt that will ever be bettered. The last thing he needs is a silly tumble on his dodgy elbow – or worse. Even though some favorites were up there at the end, the weather did make things a lottery. Boonen likes his P-R odds better than a slog through the snow and ice. Anyway, Chavanel and Cavendish were still racing and both finished top-10. That’s a better result than any other single team.