Michał Kwiatkowski attacks on the Poggio as the Tinkoff team behind chases to aide their leader Peter Sagan, the pre-race pick. Kwiatkowski’s got a gap and he’s a mean descender so he’s in with a chance. If you’ve been watching on TV this is a moment of almost unbearable tension.
Milan-Sanremo is the longest race on the pro calendar yet it’s so often dependent on events in the last five minutes.
It will take you two seconds to read this sentence. That was the winning margin Sergio Henao held over Alberto Contador after a thrilling thrilling week of racing where the result in suspense until the end.
Was there a winning moment? Alberto Contador could spend another week going back over the moments he lost a second here or there, that time bonus on the Mur de Fayence taken by Henao, th lack of a team mate up the road on the final stage and why did Ion Izagirre pull so hard on the descent into Nice? This was a rich race full of action that it’s impossible to reduce to one moment.
The final stage and all to play for with the top-3 overall within 30 seconds of each other.
The big stage with the high summit finish. When the race route was launched the summit finish on the Col de la Couillole was the novelty for its altitude. It’s the length and gradient that matter today.
A long stage with plenty of climbing and an exciting finish with the “Mur de Fayence” as the conclusion.
A sprint stage, the last sprint stage which suggests all the teams with house sprinters have a big interest in controlling the stage. Easier said than done, this stage shares many of the same roads as one of the stages last year including the Côte de Saint-Uze which saw off plenty of rivals. This time the stage finish is different with a high speed descent on the approach before an uphill run to the line.
Believe in Team Sky? Have faith in Dave Brailsford? Pro cycling ought to be as simple as riding a bike, of 200 riders trying to cross a white line first. Only it’s more complicated. This sophistication can satisfy as we learn about aerodynamics or geography, sometimes it’s tiresome as we trawl the UCI rulebook or WADA Code. As Team Sky’s TUE saga goes on, it’s not so much learning about new subjects, it’s more an exploration of the frontier of what we know and what we don’t.
A time trial today and this was supposed to be the first chance for the overall contenders to stake their claim. Two wild stages have ruined the chances for many already so today we’ll learn more about the relative condition of the main contenders.
After two dramatic days Stage 3 promises calmer weather, just as there’s still the prospect of crosswinds and rain. This is the gourmet’s stage where the locations along the way read like names on a menu.
The race was gripping yesterday when the opening stage was turned into a scene you’d expect from a Belgian classic as the bunch was split asunder by the crosswinds. Today has the potential for more action thanks to the course and weather forecast.