The first Monument of the year, this Saturday’s Milan-Sanremo is all about the tense finish, the paradox of the longest race of the year that’s often decided in the final metres and one of the rare one day races where grand tour contenders and sprinters can each stake their claim. Who will keep their nerve?
Part of Milan-Sanremo’s ultimate double-act, the Cipressa could be seen as inconsequential climb for the way no rider has managed to launch a winning move here for 20 years. However compared to the Poggio it is by far the harder of the two climbs and if it doesn’t pick the winner, it makes for plenty of losers who must race for over six and and half hours only to see their hopes vanish on these slopes. What’s it like to ride on an ordinary day?
Greg Van Avermaet attacks on the Poggio as the others watch, including eventual race winner John Degenkolb. The photo doesn’t do the action justice because 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.
Milan-Sanremo is this Saturday and hopefully you’ve got it as a date in your diary. Only some loyal readers may not because when this site put the 2016 pro cycling calendar online last October Milan-Sanremo was left off by mistake. Subscribers need not worry but if you downloaded the file it’s worth getting the updated version below as it’s got La Primavera and several other changes.
If you haven’t downloaded the file nor subscribed you’ll find info below how to do this plus a quick explainer on the calendar and that UCI labels like “1.HC” and “2.1” mean.
Geraint Thomas crosses the finish line in Nice. It was only at this moment that the result became clear to spectators as the clock on the gantry showed only a few seconds had elapsed since Alberto Contador had crossed the line. Thomas appears to be smiling above but it wasn’t until he’d come to a stop that he knew for sure he’d kept his jersey and won Paris-Nice.
Some stage races end with a victory parade. Today’s got a hilly fast stage of just 134km featuring the Côte de Peille that cracked Michał Kwiatkowski last year and then the Col d’Eze. Geraint Thomas leads the race but faces a stressful day in ambush country with 10 riders within a minute of his yellow jersey. Don’t miss the early finish this afternoon.
Today’s the day, the most anticipated stage of the Paris-Nice with several climbs and a summit finish. It’s not the fiercest mountain stage by a long way but currently there are 30 riders within a minute of race leader Michael Matthews and the overall classification is going to get shaken up. Can Matthews hold on or will the likes of Contador, Majka, Thomas, Izaguirre or Dumoulin take the race lead?
Enjoying the regular race previews? Want to support the work that goes into them or just fancy some new cycling kit for spring that helps out? Either way it’s time to rattle the collection tin here once again.
A reminder that supporter jerseys, caps and socks are available from UK shop Prendas Ciclismo. The price is £55 (roughly $78 / €70) plus postage. The short sleeve jerseys are made by Santini and the Prendas website has all the info with good details on sizing and more.
Mont Ventoux dominates the profile and the imagination but it’s very unlikely to pick the winner today. Instead the route gradually levels out and the ensuing climbs are more decisive, including one with a hidden 20% section before the flat and windy run to the finish.
New for 2016 is the UCI’s Extreme Weather Protocol, a rule that concerns itself with bad weather of all kinds and it got its first use in the World Tour yesterday in Paris-Nice. As rule explainers go this is a quick one but worth exploring.