It's time for the first monument of the year and the longest race of the year - 298 km without the neutral start. Yes, boysngals, it's the Milano-San Remo weekend.
Legendary Danish poet, sports commentator, and film director of the Paris-Roubaix documentary A Sunday in Hell (1976) said it better than I could:
Milano-San Remo is a race where for the longest time nothing happens, and then - suddenly - everything happens!
He said it in Danish, of course, but you get the gist of it. If you watch this from start to finish - and I recommend it - you'll have time for a nap, a snack, and a board game while you wait for the riders to approach the final 70 kms at which point your pulse will slowly start to rise as the climbs start to come - Capo Mele, Capo Cervo, Capo Berta - steady breath - and then.... leading into the Cipressa, your mouth will start to go dry as the peloton fights like madmen to get their hopefuls into position for the climb and then POW, it's the finale and it lasts for the next ~25 kilometers and if you have a heart, I guarantee that you'll hit pulse 200 somewhere along the way.
So who'll win? Well - that's anyone's guess. Here are the PCS top competitors:
- POGAČAR Tadej
- DEL TORO Isaac
- PEDERSEN Mads
- VAN DER POEL Mathieu
- PIDCOCK Thomas
- MAGNIER Paul
- MCNULTY Brandon
- VAN AERT Wout
- BRENNAN Matthew
- ANDRESEN Tobias Lund
Please don't let it be Pogacar, though.
I was surprised by Van Aert🇧🇪's and Pedersen🇩🇰's performances. I didn't expect they would be so competitive after their absence (and relatively mediocre performances by Van Aert on the previous races).
Pidcock🇬🇧 had all the opportunities today to grab and play with Pogatchar🇸🇮's balls, but once again, he durstn't. This bloke always relays opponents stronger than him; even though in the second half of the breakaway today, there were just small politeness relays.
Not a single Frenchman in the first 15 riders. That's an improvement over last year, when there was not a single Frenchman in the first 25 riders 😆
The two Polti riders from the breakaway are the only ones who managed to stay in the peloton for 50^th^ place.
@Deschanel2027 @CarstenBoll@feddit.dk
I was very impressed with both Pedersen and Van Aert too, but I really wish Pidcock had won the sprint.
I can't wait for the articles about pundits being worried about Pogacar's Tour de France chances because he couldn't get rid of Pidcock on the climbs. Or maybe that media treatment is exclusively reserved for Vingegaard? :D
my stream died on the cipressa.... i'm only finally watching the replay now....
Pogatchar had been rehearsing the descents of Cipressa and Poggio over and over again, so he was trying to use the descents to rid himself of the other two riders, who were just trying not to lose contact – which was indeed easier for Pidcock than for Van der Poel who was struggling.
I reckon we also never saw him so nervous as he was in the final miles.