Milan-San Remo 2012 (March 17th); warning, contains unmasked spoiler information

dastardly00

Can't find a specific thread about the race so here goes...

Unfortunately Milan-San Remo is on St. Patrick's Day this year so we'll have to try and squeeze it alongside the parade, tonnes of sporting events and a lot of drink But it's one of the main Classics during the season, and arguably Italy's most prestigious one-day race, so it's well worth the watch. It's live on British Eurosport at 13:40 tomorrow.

A few facts about the race:

• Milan-San Remo 2012 will be the 103rd staging of the historic 298km event, which is the longest one-day race, and Classic, on the calendar.
• The most successful rider is Eddy Merckx; winning seven times (record of victories in one single classic race).
• Generally flat, but does contain the Turchino climb (km 142) and Le Maine (km 204), along with the 'Capi'; a succession of five short but nasty bumps all located in the final 50 kilometres: Capo Mele, Capo Cervo, Capo Berta, the Cipressa and finally, the Poggio.
• Former Winners: 2011-Matthew Goss (Aus) HTC-Highroad; 2010-Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank; 2009-Mark Cavendish (GBr) Columbia-HTC; 2008-Fabian Cancellara (Swi) CSC Saxo Bank; 2007-Oscar Freire (Spa) Rabobank; 2006-Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Quick Step-Innergetic; 2005-Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo; 2004-Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank; 2003-Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick.Step-Davitamon; 2002-Mario Cipollini (Ita) Acqua & Sapone.

The course:





Start List: Link

Favourites:

Mark Cavendish 3/1; Peter Sagan 13/2; Fabian Cancellara 13/2; Oscar Freire 12/1; Matt Goss 12/1; Edvald Boasson Hagen 12/1; Tom Boonen 14/1; Andre Greipel 14/1; Philippe Gilbert 14/1
(odds from Paddy Power)

There are so many riders that could win this race, it's almost impossible to call. The bookies reckon that Cav will survive the attacks and will be in the lead group descending the Poggio, with nobody being able to beat him in a sprint. It's hard to argue against that, but I think one of the other main contenders will manage to form a breakaway group from Cav, other than that I'm sitting on the fence

Lumen

Good luck to anyone trying to drop Cavendish. Even on his own he can go up hills when he has a reason to.

TheBlaaMan

Really looking forward to this. I foresee a family dispute over TV rights (I guess I'll be watching on the laptop then :rolleyes:)

Its a pity Hushovd (and Chavenal) is a non-starter for this and, given that his form is good, its hard to bet against Cavendish if he gets thru the first 200km unscathed.

I've love to see Cancellara go on a banzai move over the Poggio and stay away to win, or Haussler to get his own back on Cav for 2009, but regardless, after nearly 300km and 7 hrs or so in the saddle, the winner will be a worthy one!

Kellys win in '92 is still one of my favourite pieces of sporting success.

cycletheroad

I would fancy Nibali to win.......he has superior descending skills if his their at the end, considering his recent form.........33/1 with paddy power is generous odds. get yer money on:D

ednwireland

cav

morana

Going for a complete outsider-bennatti

Inquitus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBSlO89KH8M

corny

Anything can happen but Cavs form is good enough and is team strong enough to make this another facile win. Simon Gerrrans as an outsider though.

sy

Sagan may be only 22 but what a talent. If he gets away from riding for Nibali he has a great chance of pulling off a big win. Haussler has still to prove himself a big winner and Tom Boonen is in great form as is Cav and Ballan. Gilbert is getting there however I think Cancellara is in the form of his life and will win his second MSR. Looking back at past winners( Merckx won 7 times) there have been very few outsiders that have won this great classic

ROK ON

Love to see Bonen win.

Head says Cancellara

J Madone

Cancellara all the way

McTigs

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

Really looking forward to this. I foresee a family dispute over TV rights (I guess I'll be watching on the laptop then :rolleyes:)

and where would be the best place to do this?

patrick151

Who i'll be cheering(shouting at the TV for): Cav

Who i think will win it: Cancellara

Underdog whom i would like to win it: Haussler

Beasty

McTigs wrote: »

and where would be the best place to do this?

Do not post any details of illegal/copyrighted streams

(or any clues on where to find them)

Thanks

Beasty

Stokolan

McTigs wrote: »

and where would be the best place to do this?

Via Eurosport player probably the best way. Tis handy, €40 for the year ideal if you do any travelling.

Or Skyplayer if you have a sky sub.

ednwireland

Stokolan wrote: »

Via Eurosport player probably the best way. Tis handy, €40 for the year ideal if you do any travelling.

Or Skyplayer if you have a sky sub.

except it doesnt start till 13:15:(

actually thats not eurosports fault seems like the italian tv coverage doesnt start till then

live text feed http://live.cyclingnews.com/

Inquitus

Could be all over for Cav on La Máine

Beasty

No spoiler tags required;)

ednwireland

gonna be hard for cav now, rest of feild gonna power down the other side

Inquitus

All over for Cav minute and a half down now, and only Eisel for company.

Inquitus

To be fair Sky ditched Cav pretty quick which was the right thing to do, Bosen Hagen has a great shout and they might as well ride for him, rather than wasted their efforts trying to pace a fooked Cav back on.

Bad crash, looks serious

Carpenter

That looks bad

ednwireland

quintero doesnt look good, hpoe hes ok

gotta go out

Inquitus

Cavendish under a minute behind, seems he may make it back on now he has 4-5 Sky riders working to bridge, don't see the point of this though, he'll just get dropped on the next climb or the one after, they should have switched to working for Edwald,

Quintero ok supposedly. fingers crossed.

funnights74

Cavendish has given up the hunt, bad day at the office for him. Quintero situation looking better, moving and alert, didn't look good there for a bit.

Inquitus

Phil Gil caught up in a minor crash, game over for him, another big favourite goes.

dastardly00

Gilbert involved in a crash!

Sr. Assumpta

Ouch!!

Inquitus

Boonen, Spartacus, Friere, Bosen Hagan, Sagan or Nibali?

Moflojo

I'd fancy Sagan.

corny

corny wrote: »

Anything can happen but Cavs form is good enough and is team strong enough to make this another facile win. Simon Gerrrans as an outsider though.

:cool:

dave2pvd

corny wrote: »

Simon Gerrrans as an outsider

Good call!

Sr. Assumpta

Awh, poor Fab.....

Hail 2 Da Thief

Gutted to see Fab pipped to 2nd yet again!

Inquitus

Hail 2 Da Thief wrote: »

Gutted to see Fab pipped to 2nd yet again!

I think he might have to get used to it, sadly. There's always going to be a Gilbert, Boonen or Gerrans in his wheel.

Stokolan

Had €25 on Cancellara maybe next time.

goldencleric

corny wrote: »

Anything can happen but Cavs form is good enough and is team strong enough to make this another facile win. Simon Gerrrans as an outsider though.

Great shout!

Dammit had money on Pozzato at 80-1 each way. I cannot and will not stop placing bets on that man to win something, as stupid as that may be.

Beasty

goldencleric wrote: »

Great shout!

Dammit had money on Pozzato at 80-1 each way. I cannot and will not stop placing bets on that man to win something, as stupid as that may be.

Just double your stake every time - you may end up a millionaire (equally you could end up bankrupt!)

sy

Great race. Strongest man won.

cycletheroad

cycletheroad wrote: »

I would fancy Nibali to win.......he has superior descending skills if his their at the end, considering his recent form.........33/1 with paddy power is generous odds. get yer money on:D

Had 10 ew on Nibali, so happy with result. Cav was a big surprise, have my doubts about him doing nine rounds of box hill in the olympic road race to get in the medals.

funnights74

sy wrote: »

Great race. Strongest man won.

Best sprinter won, unless Cancellara figuires out a way of out doing these guys who hang on after he instigates the initial breaks he will be finishing second many more times.
Today was a re-run of last years Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix where he finished second on both occasions.

cycletheroad

funnights74 wrote: »

sy wrote: »

Great race. Strongest man won.

Best sprinter won, unless Cancellara figuires out a way of out doing these guys who hang on after he instigates the initial breaks he will be finishing second many more times.
Today was a re-run of last years Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix where he finished second on both occasions.

But it was Nibali who instigated the winning move and brought Gerrans with him then cancellara came up. If Cancellara had went first I think he may have won it then.

TheBlaaMan

Feckin wheel-suckin' Aussie......

Spartacus is going to have to rethink things, he only succeeded in pulling Gerrans to the line, and Gerrans took only one brief turn on the front in 3km.......maybe he should have done as he did in P-R last year and sat up. He's not going to win a sprint in those conditions.......

He is still the most exciting guy in the peleton (IMO) and I was really willing him on for a repeat of his victory in the Strade Bianche.

Morrisseeee

Came back from the race in Carrick today and caught the last 20km. Good win for Gerrans as he profited from the Cancellara move. I'm just wondering did Sagan not try too hard to catch the front 3 as Nibbles was there. I suspect he's nailed on to win this race soon tho !

Taylor Phinney's 'spin' on Strava.

furiousox

Looked like a bad crash at the last corner, who went down?

buffalo

furiousox wrote: »

Looked like a bad crash at the last corner, who went down?

Quickstep's Trentin - http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/11394/Bad-luck-for-Boonen-and-Trentin-in-Milan-Sanremo.aspx

sy

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

Feckin wheel-suckin' Aussie......

Gerrans covered the move by Nibali (easily) Cancellara tried his best to drop Gerrans on the descent and at the bottom of the Poggio. He got 20m at one stage but Gerrans covered it. Its what happens in bike racing if you are the better sprinter. Sit on the stong man as much as you can then jump. It may seem unfair (I was rootin for Cancellara by the way ) but thats racing and Gerrans rode the perfect finish. He had the head and legs to do it on the day. Not nice finishing 2nd 2 years on the trot but Cancelllara should have made his move earlier to get that 15/20 second gap necessary at the bottom of the Poggio. He will have his day in April (I hope)

Good to see Pozzato coming back to form and Sagan looked impressive as expected. Haussler and Boonen were disappointing

Link
Gerrans

“Without question Fabian was the strongest, I can’t deny him that. He was going like a motorbike,” Gerrans admitted in the post-race press conference. “Really, he followed Nibali and myself on the Poggio and then he drove it across the top. He’s one of the best descenders in the peloton and he drove it down the descent. I was losing the wheel coming out of the corners each time.”
My position was to follow the breakaways,” Gerrans said. “Obviously I wasn’t as strong as Fabian, I’d be the first to admit that. But it’s not always the strongest guy who wins the race. You have to play a little smart and be there.”

C-Shore

cycletheroad wrote: »

I would fancy Nibali to win.......he has superior descending skills if his their at the end, considering his recent form.........33/1 with paddy power is generous odds. get yer money on:D

Boyle Sports gave him at 66/1 during the week, so I was happy! He went to 16/1 at about the 50km mark in running.

It was frustrating watching him sit on Cancellara's wheel on the way in, but I reckon he was too tired to even try, so fair play to him hanging on. A win would have been nicer for the €5 e/w

It was a great race right to the finish, feel awful for Van Avermaet though, so close!

corny

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

Feckin wheel-suckin' Aussie......

Spartacus is going to have to rethink things, he only succeeded in pulling Gerrans to the line, and Gerrans took only one brief turn on the front in 3km.......maybe he should have done as he did in P-R last year and sat up. He's not going to win a sprint in those conditions.......

He is still the most exciting guy in the peleton (IMO) and I was really willing him on for a repeat of his victory in the Strade Bianche.

He is brilliant for bike racing but to be fair the opposition aren't stupid. They know if they contribute Spartacus might do what he did at Harelbeke last year and just ride off on the flat.

Cancellara attacked them at the bottom of the Poggio and couldn't distance them. They didn't owe him anything after that.

MrCreosote

“Without question Fabian was the strongest, I can’t deny him that. He was going like a motorbike,” Gerrans admitted in the post-race press conference.

They're not starting up that old rumour again, I hope?!

650Ginge

Lumen wrote: »

Good luck to anyone trying to drop Cavendish. Even on his own he can go up hills when he has a reason to.

Didn't seem to strong on the hills yesterday. I am always surprised at the form of cav, he can be like a storm trooper one day lamb the next.