Milan San Remo predictions

el tel

Right, who do you think will take the honours in Saturday's big race?

I think it will be Edvald Boasson Hagen from Daniele Bennati.

Wonder if Armstrong be within 5 minutes of the winner?

ednwireland

cav for me (hope he can pull it off but boassen hagen is flying at the moment)

why would armstrong be near the front, training ride for him, theres only 3 weeks in july that are important to him

Caroline_ie

start list?

el tel

Caroline_ie wrote: »

start list?

Good point!


http://www.milansanremo.co.uk/2010/2010-start-list.html

niceonetom

I don't think Cav has any form at the moment. I doubt he'll be in the hunt at all.

Juan Antonio Flecha still looks very strong, I wouldn't be surprised to see him up there.

Chips Lovell

Was going to do a blog post on this but doubt if I'll have time.

My pick is Boonen. The guy is on screaming form at the moment and seems to be really focussed this year after his travails last year. The big caveat though is that MSR is not his main target, since Flanders and Roubaix are the big ones for him. But nobody is going as well as him at the moment.

I tipped Bennati last year and he wasn't great. He looked good in the Tirreno but failed to convince me. Petacchi doesn't look like he's up to speed yet and I think that crash messed his preparations up a bit. I know Cavendish has had his dental issues, but I wouldn't rule him out. If he was fit he'd be the overwhelming favourite and I think he might be liking the fact that he's out of the limelight. There may be a wee bit of sandbagging going on. Then again, he was DFL in the Tirreno.

Farrar, Boassen Hagen and Hushovd could all place well. Freire looks a wee bit off his game. Pozzato is the big dark horse. I know he's won it before but recently he's been focussed on the northern races. But he's in great form and he is Italian after all.

Caroline_ie

boonen

godihatedehills

Boonen is the favourite (13/2) and Boassen Haagen a close second (7/1). They're both pretty short for cycling odds. Flecha is the only one mentioned above with a big price....33/1.

Maybe we should start keeping record and see who is the boards best tipster?

Chips Lovell

Not sure if it's Flecha's kind of race. He's great at motoring away solo or in small groups in rough roads/bad weather, a real strongman. There will be lots of fast men chasing him if he tries this at the weekend. Admittedly, Cancellera won in this fashion two years ago, but on his day, he's even stronger than Flecha. That's not to say he won't have a pop, which would relieve Sky and Boassen Hagen from chasing duties.

Malari

I'd love to see Gilbert do it.

ROK ON

There have been a few unpredictable races this year. Would be nice if an outsider put n a strong perf.

shapez

My top 4.

BOONEN Tom (Belgium)
CANCELLARA Fabian (Switzerland)
IVANOV Serguei (Russia)
HUSHOVD Thor (Norway)

Surprising not to see Henrik Haussler in the mix. Is he injured?

Chips Lovell

Haussler pulled out

Bikerbhoy

el tonto wrote: »

Haussler pulled out

Darn...... just about to suggest him


What happened / Why ?

Chips Lovell

Knee injury.

hinault

Cavendish V. Spartacus

I'll go for Cav.

Raam

I'll go for EBH.

Bikerbhoy

el tonto wrote: »

Knee injury.

Ah must be result of the few tumbles he had in Paris - Nice..... Cheers

Malari

Bikerbhoy wrote: »

Ah must be result of the few tumbles he had in Paris - Nice..... Cheers

Speaking of which, anyone know what caused Cav to crash in Paris Nice? Thought Magnus and Carlton were going to come to blows arguing over it on Eurosport

Chips Lovell

Bikerbhoy wrote: »

Ah must be result of the few tumbles he had in Paris - Nice..... Cheers

Was actually a crash in the Volta ao Argave. He thought he was alright to do Paris-Nice but was forced to pull out after it started bothering him again.

Chips Lovell

Malari wrote: »

Speaking of which, anyone know what caused Cav to crash in Paris Nice? Thought Magnus and Carlton were going to come to blows arguing over it on Eurosport

Was in Tirenno Adriatico he crashed. Looked like a touch of wheels to me. The photos show his front wheel sheered of spokes, which would indicate it got caught in someone's QR.

Malari

el tonto wrote: »

Was in Tirenno Adriatico he crashed. Looked like a touch of wheels to me. The photos show his front wheel sheered of spokes, which would indicate it got caught in someone's QR.

Oh yeah, that's what I meant, was watching both at the same time.

ColSheehan

As ROK ON said already, there has been a few unpredictable races so far. Remember last years Milan San-Remo - Cav didn't stand a chance because of his form in the Tirenno before it and yet he went on to pip Haussler to it in the end. So I wouldn't rule Cav out yet

My choice would be Boonen, I've watched him a lot so far and he's one that is standing out a lot in my mind, althought there could be a surprise with guys like Cav, Hushovd, Hincapie, Farrar, Petacchi, Boasson Hagan, Andy Schleck, Lancie, Steegmans :P even Gilbert !

It sure will be exciting to watch

Chips Lovell

ColSheehan wrote: »

As ROK ON said already, there has been a few unpredictable races so far. Remember last years Milan San-Remo - Cav didn't stand a chance because of his form in the Tirenno before it and yet he went on to pip Haussler to it in the end. So I wouldn't rule Cav out yet

My choice would be Boonen, I've watched him a lot so far and he's one that is standing out a lot in my mind, althought there could be a surprise with guys like Cav, Hushovd, Hincapie, Farrar, Petacchi, Boasson Hagan, Andy Schleck, Lancie, Steegmans :P even Gilbert !

It sure will be exciting to watch

Andy Schleck wouldn't have a snowballs even if he was fit and he's well off the pace at the moment. Not his kind of race at all. Armstrong is just doing it for the training. Steegmans has a broken collar bone.

Having said all that, I did say that I didn't think Cavendish had the legs to make it to the finish in contention last year.

ColSheehan

el tonto wrote: »

Andy Schleck wouldn't have a snowballs even if he was fit and he's well off the pace at the moment. Not his kind of race at all. Armstrong is just doing it for the training. Steegmans has a broken collar bone.

Having said all that, I did say that I didn't think Cavendish had the legs to make it to the finish in contention last year.

I agree about Andy, I think maybe it will be training for him for the Liège-Bastogne-Liège. I just threw his name in there because I thought he was a bit of an outsider, considering the fact he didnt race much this year compared to Contador and others
Steegmans' name was on the start list for the Milan San-Remo so I thought maybe he might stand a chance too

TinyExplosions

Cav for me... so much so that I stuck a few quid on him with Paddy Power... if that's not the biggest jinx ever, I dunno what is

niceonetom

Cav "I can't do it" shocker.

jdt101

Thor Hushovd (win)
Fabian Cancellara (as one to watch):)

E@gle.

I reckon Daniele Bennati or even Filippo Pozzato they both seem to be going well, not sure about cancerella how hebeen going lately?

Bossan Hagen could be a surprise or Juan Antonio FLetcha

sy

OK Boonen and EBH are big favourites and rightly so , but Pozzato for me. I know he has stated he is after one of the northern classics but keeping low profile as I think he feels he can win this again. His team mate [SIZE=-1]Ignatiev [/SIZE]is flying after his win the other day so might be an outside bet.
Liquigas look very strong at the moment so Bennati might just be up there at the end.

Pozzato
Ignatiev
Bennati

Cancellara, Flecha and Gilbert are aiming for Flanders, who isn't!

TinyExplosions

niceonetom wrote: »

Cav "I can't do it" shocker.

please let it be sandbagging, please let it be sandbagging, please let it be sandbagging!

furiousox

Armstrong out due to illness

sy

Surprise surprise

Lumen

furiousox wrote: »

Armstrong out due to illness

IrishExaminer wrote:

Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong has pulled out of tomorrow’s Milan-San Remo classic due to illness.

The Team RadioShack leader is suffering from acute gastroenteritis and team director Johan Bruyneel said: “It would have been good to have Lance line up for the start but we prefer not to take any risk.

Has he been stalking boardsies in Spain?

What a whiner. What would Niceonetom do?

rothar man

what price is pettachi?

think it ll be an italian this year, even ballan looks good at moment

RobFowl

TinyExplosions wrote: »

please let it be sandbagging, please let it be sandbagging, please let it be sandbagging!

BikeRadar certainly seem to think so....

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/milan-san-remo-preview-mark-cavendish-goes-for-two-25433

"Britain's Mark Cavendish is maintaining hopes of pulling off a rare double by winning the gruelling Milan-San Remo when it opens the one-day classics season on Saturday.
But more than one of the Isle of Man sprinter's rivals are aware of his apparent lack of form, and they will be ready to anticipate the kind of move that handed Cavendish a shock, but deserved, victory last year.
In 2009 Cavendish started 'La Primavera' as an outsider after what some now believe was a deliberately mediocre performance on the hills of the Tirreno-Adriatico stage race the week before. But after sailing over the Cipressa and Poggio climbs, Cavendish chased down Heinrich Haussler after the German launched a late bid for the win to claim his first major classics crown, and become the first Briton to win the race since Tom Simpson in 1964."


Very homoerotic pic of Pozatto there as well

Funkyzeit

Although rightly an outsider I think Cav's odds are very generous at 15-1. I like most people didn't think he'd get over the Poggio in contention last year but he did - If HTC Columbia can get a savage pace on the bottom of of it he might well just do it again.

TinyExplosions

Funkyzeit wrote: »

Although rightly an outsider I think Cav's odds are very generous at 15-1. I like most people didn't think he'd get over the Poggio in contention last year but he did - If HTC Columbia can get a savage pace on the bottom of of it he might well just do it again.

Motherfucker sandbagging after I'd got him at 13/2, not he's out to 15/1.... grrr!

Lumen

TinyExplosions wrote: »

Motherfucker sandbagging after I'd got him at 13/2, not he's out to 15/1.... grrr!

16/1 on betfred.com

How appropriate. Come on Cav!

TinyExplosions

Lumen wrote: »

16/1 on betfred.com

How appropriate. Come on Cav!

I hate you all

Muller_1

There are some good prices on PadddyPower Pozzato 12/1 Cancellera 14/1 Flecha 40/1 good each way bets

teufelswerk

Muller_1 wrote: »

There are some good prices on PadddyPower Pozzato 12/1 Cancellera 14/1 Flecha 40/1 good each way bets

I had 20 quid each way on Sagan at 19/1 until they confirmed that he wasn't riding it. 7/4 for an Italian winner seems decent as well when you consider the strength of the sprinters and the possibility of Garzelli/Pozzato etc. making an effort on the Poggio that they could see out to the end. Had Cavendish at 17/1 last year for the win, really don't think he'll be in the mix tomorrow.

ROK ON

furiousox wrote: »

Armstrong out due to illness

I have a slight suspicion (this is off topic I know). But I think he may not do the tour this year. Reading his tweets. Training hasnt been going great, and he himself believes that he is undercooked. The sandbaggiong quotient is on the up. Praising Contador to the high hilt.
Bertie is now going to do the Criterium. Will Lance show up?

DirkVoodoo

Surely all his sponsors expect him to do the tour? My brother yesterday deceived me into thinking Lance had ruptured some ligaments and was out of the tour, I actually felt my face drop...does this mean I am a closet Lance fan?

niceonetom

ROK ON wrote: »

I have a slight suspicion (this is off topic I know). But I think he may not do the tour this year. Reading his tweets. Training hasnt been going great, and he himself believes that he is undercooked. The sandbaggiong quotient is on the up. Praising Contador to the high hilt.
Bertie is now going to do the Criterium. Will Lance show up?

I doubt he'll do the Criterium, but I can't see him skipping the tour.

He has a long history of heaping praise on his main rival - god knows what he would have been tweeting about Ulrich had twitter been part of his agitprop back then.

ROK ON

niceonetom wrote: »

I doubt he'll do the Criterium, but I can't see him skipping the tour.

He has a long history of heaping praise on his main rival - god knows what he would have been tweeting about Ulrich had twitter been part of his agitprop back then.

All true. But he does not like losing. Much more so than most athletes. If he believes he wont win (which I think he is accepting) then an injury or illness will just happen to come along. Longshot, but wouldnt rule it out.
Sorry for disrupting thread flow. Feel free to delete.

c0rk3r

Home:Ballyhoura wrote: »

Just about to throw on a tenner, first time doing this for me so just a quick question. Do you have to make a deposit with both PaddyPower and Betfred first before you make the bet (can you get this back once the race is over)? And how do you claim your winnings, does it go back into your PayPal account or Credit Card or do you have to call into one of the shops in person? (If so, is there any betfred bookies in Ireland?) Thanks in advance!

Who are you going with? Think ill stick €5 each way on Boonen (high roller). I think you have to make a deposit from your credit card first, how you collect your winnings i dont know. Have a look at some deals first. You may get €50 free or some such for setting up an account. Personally i wouldnt go with the online route, its too easy to gamble and you may have trouble with banks in the future with loans etc. Thats just me though

Paul Kiernan

ROK ON wrote: »

All true. But he does not like losing. Much more so than most athletes. If he believes he wont win (which I think he is accepting) then an injury or illness will just happen to come along. Longshot, but wouldnt rule it out.
Sorry for disrupting thread flow. Feel free to delete.

Armstrong must be God. He can foretell the future. At the unveiling of the 2010 Tour route he said, about Milan San Remo ....

""I think I have another appointment that day, A doctors appointment or something"

Home:Ballyhoura

Username-in-use wrote: »

Who are you going with? Think ill stick €5 each way on Boonen (high roller).

I deleted that post cause I found out how it works in the meantime....anyway I put a fiver each way on both Hushovd and Boonen.

Boonen seems to be going well at the mo.
Hushovd in with a chance also.
Either Cavendish is in poor form and has no chance or is playing elaborate mindgames with us all.

Home:Ballyhoura

Deleted User wrote: »

or is playing elaborate mindgames with us all.

Thats what I was thinking too...sneaky little devil if he comes up with a good result tomorrow! We'll have to wait and see. I wouldn't put it past him!