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 3^rd 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.
 

The best-placed Team RadioShack rider was Geoffroy Lequatre in 14^th place.  After the race he said, “ This was a hard race because of the rain and crashes.  I was in the crash on Turchino and had to chase with Cavendish and his team to come back.  The pace was constantly very high.  Oh, it was hard.  Seba (Rossele) was still in the front too with me, but he cracked on the Cipressa.  I survived the Poggio and tried to do a good sprint but was a bit closed in on the right when they began to sprint.  It could have been a better result.  So I am a bit disappointed but I may not complain.  This is my first participation in this race.  I want to come back.  Milan-Sanremo suits me.  Now I go to Belgium for the Flemish classics.”

Early breaks built up substantial leads but on a long course such as today’s even twenty or thirty minutes guarantees nothing as groups went away only to be brought back later on the mostly flat course before the final 30km of racing.  Par for the course, the true action came just before the ascent of the Poggio.  FdJ’s Yoann Offredo put up a big effort but soon enough his time out front was over and Stefano Garzelli (Acqua & Sapone) went forward to drill the pace until there was nothing left in his legs.  Mick Rogers (HTC-Columbia  and Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) also tried before Italian champ Filippo Pozzato (Katusha) gave a turn at the front.

Tackling 23 curves, 7 hairpin turns and 3.3km of descent, Vincenzo Nibaliof Liquigas led the way down the Poggio, breaking the group into some thirty riders with a small gap to the group that included last year’s winner Cavendish.  Pozzato took off but was chased down by Liquigas as they approached the finish line. The green team was all over the front of the race and Daniele  Bennati opened up his sprint first  but Freire was right there on the wheel to shoot through the opening with Boonen chasing.  Freire had the power to hold off all comers and took the win by almost two bike lengths.