Milan - San Remo

Milan – Sanremo, 298km/185mi
By Cathy Mehl
In the longest race on the UCI-calendar, 25 teams and 199 riders pedaled from Milan to Sanremo in what is generally regarded as the true start of the Spring Classics.  Cloudy skies, some rain and cool temperatures greeted the peloton but didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the huge crowds that lined up to see this important one-day race.   After almost seven hours on the bike, the race came down to a sprint finish with former World Champion Oscar Freire (Rabobank) able to outfox Tom Boonen (Quick Step) and Alessandro Petacchi  (Lampre) to capture his 3rd win in “La Primavera.”  Crossing the line with a vigorous fist-pump, the 34-year old Spaniard took his fourth win of the season by almost two bike lengths.
 

By Chris Brewer
Team RadioShack lineup: Fumiyuki Beppu, Daryl Impey, Markel Irizar, Geoffroy Lequatre, Dmitriy Muravyev, Gregory Rast, Sébastien Rosseler and Tomas Vaitkus
 
It’s time to kick off what many feel is the official start of the Classics season, “La Primavera” – Milan – San Remo… known not only for its beautiful route, MSR is also one of the oldest races (this is the 101st edition) and is the longest at an astonishing 298km / 185mi!  We’re talking seven hours saddle time at race pace…
 
Before we get into the race itself and the contenders, one notable rider who won’t be on the line is The Shack’s Lance Armstrong, suffering from “acute gastroenteritis.”  "It would have been good to have Lance in the line-up for the start but we prefer not to take any risk," said Johan Bruyneel. "It would not be very intelligent to let him start in a race of almost 300K, while not being healthy."

March 18, 2010 - Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong will not be able to participate in Milan-Sanremo, the second ProTour event of the 2010 season. The Team RadioShack leader, suffering from acute gastroenteritis, will be replaced by teammate Fumiyuki Beppu.  "It would have been good to have Lance lineup for the start but we prefer not to take any risk," commented Team Director Johan Bruyneel. "It would not be very intelligent to let him start in a race of almost 300 K, while not being healthy."

The rider list for Milan-Sanremo has been officially announced.  Please see the list:
Milan-Sanremo (Ita), March, 20, 2010
Riders: Lance Armstrong, Daryl Impey, Markel Irizar, Geoffroy Lequatre, Dmitriy Muravyev, Gregory Rast, Sébastien Rosseler & Tomas Vaitkus 
Director: Johan Bruyneel