Welcome to our live ticker of the 101st edition of the "Classica di
Primavera". The 2010
Milan-Sanremo got underway under light
rain earlier this morning in Italy's second largest city Milano (
a
clip of the "fake" start at Milan's "Castle Square" will be
available later...) and is set to finish later in the afternoon
in the Ligurian Riviera town not far from the french border after a
long trip of 298 kilometers, whose profile you can see below. along
with a map of the route from the last climb to the finish line
and the final kilometer map.
rofile
© 2010 Gazzetta
dello Sport
Milan - Sanremo Profile - Large .pdf
MSR Poggio climb to the finish
© 2010 Gazzetta
dello Sport
Final Km MSR
© 2010 Gazzetta
dello Sport
1120 CET: We join the race in progress with three young
Italians on the front: Fabrice Piemontesi (Androni
Giocattoli-Diquigiovanni), Aristide Ratti (Carmiooro) and
Diego Caccia (ISD-Neri) broke away from the peloton shortly
after the flag was dropped, and the big names in the bunch gave them
green light, such that the gap swiftly ballooned to five minutes
after no more than 14 kilometers.
And it didn't stop getting bigger and bigger: it was up to 11'20"
by the km. 24 check and an impressive 18 minutes just 32 kilometres
into the race!
And it was further increased to 21'40" at km. 36.
A small video of the peloton leaving the Piazza Castello area in downtown Milano
on the way to km. 0, which was about five miles way, in the southernmost part of the city.
you may notice raindrops on the camera lens, as it started ralning before the start
and also hear that funny guy screaming out rider names ("olé Lucaaa ! Kiryienkaaaaa!").
I don't even think he was really seeing them, but just shouting random names
of MSR contenders, knowing that they were somewhere in the bunch passing by, lol.
MILANO PICTURE GALLERY TO FOLLOW
Such a lead may look very impressive at first sight, but mostly
to those not too familiar with "early MSR action". In the past we
have seen similar or even broader gaps to form in the first, flat
part of the race, with the bunch letting "minor" riders have their
time in the sun and get some well-earned media exposure. But when
the race hit the Apennines and the Riviera, and the going got
tough(er) the gap disappeared quite fast, and basically all "fairy
tales" came to an end before the escapees could reach the Cipressa
and Poggio slopes, that might determine the race outcome - or might
not.
We tend to think the same thing is gonna happen this year, also
because the sprinter's teams are starting to show up on the front of
the pack.
Interviewed at the sign-in area early this morning, Mark
Cavendish admitted that he didn't have his best ever start to the
season, but at the same time expressed the hope that he can do fine
in this race. Cannonball Cavendish may not be in great shape, but he
certainly didn't come to Italy (only) to enjoy the Ligurian sea.
1140 CET: It could be a bit too early to say that the
chase has started for real, but the peloton's attitude is a bit
different now, and they "efforts" are starting to bear some little
fruit: the gap came down for the first time, dropping from 21'55"
(the maximum lead built by Fabrice Piemontesi, Aristide Ratti and
Diego Caccia) to 21 minutes and 35 seconds by km. 54, e.g. with
"just" 244 kilometers to go.
The bunch have all the time they need to bring the wondertrio
back.
1155 CET: New gap update, but in fact there's not much to
say. According to the latest reports Fabrice Piemontesi, Aristide
Ratti and Diego Caccia took their lead up to new heights ... but
just slightly: 22 minutes.
Regardless of the trio's apparently huge advantage, the pack
still seems to have everything under control.
1202 CET: New check, new maximum advantage: the gap
further increased to 22 minutes 35 seconds.
1218 CET: Tom Boonen's Royal Guard finally took things
into their own hands. The peloton Quick-Stepped some kind of chase,
and the gap magically started to come down. Ratti, Caccia and
Piemontesi could boast a "narrow" advantage of twenty minutes and as
many seconds at the latest check. The all-Italian breakaway group
averaged a good 44.5 kph in the first two hours of racing.
1225 CET: The three young riders in the lead have covered
the first 100 kilometers; it was the "easiest" third of the parcours
anyway.
1245 CET: Pure flat riding is a matter of the past: now
the escapees are on the way to the Turchino Pass summit, where the
roads are wet due to light rain. Gaps over 20 minutes are a matter
of the past too: the last check said that Piemontesi, Caccia and
Ratti were leading the field by 19 minutes & 50 seconds.
125 kilometers gone, 173 km. to go: Quick Step are doing a fine
job at the front of the chase group, bringing the gap under the
eighteen-minute mark. The three Italian fugitives climbed the
Turchino and are currently on the way to the Ligurian coast.
The Apennine hills took toll on the average speed, which dropped
to about 42.7 km/h.
The good news for Tom Boonen is that the field had reduced the
gap to the leaders to 16 minutes and 25 seconds on the Turchino,
taking about six minutes out of Ratti, Caccia and Piemontesi in
quite a short time.
The bad news is that a crash involving some riders in the peloton
involved Carlos Barredo (Quick Step) but the Spaniard IS STILL IN
the race and the Belgian DID NOT lose a precious helper.
The gap significantly fell to slightly over a dozen minutes as
also the peloton were taking on the Turchino slopes. Mark Cavendish
gave another display of his current condition, which is not that
good, by getting dropped on the ascent, even though the Brit later
regained the field.
1355 CET: Fabrice Piemontesi (Androni
Giocattoli-Diquigiovanni), Aristide Ratti (Carmiooro) and
Diego Caccia (ISD-Neri) entered the second half of the route and
reached the Ligurian coastline, but in the process their advantage
went under eleven minutes.
The high pace set by Quick Step and especially Pozzato's Katusha
smoked most of the lead trio's advantage, but notably caused the
peloton to split into two halves, the first one containing about 80
riders but not the likes of Schleck, Cunego and Cavendish (such that
most "Team Columbians" stopped and waited for their leader to help
him regain the bunch again).
If that was bad news for the guys above, things went even worse
for poor Murilo Fischer. The Garmin team Brazilian badly hit the
tarmac and apparently broke his collarbone.
Andy Schleck made his way back into the field.
Gap update about 120 kilometers from the finish:
Diego Caccia (ISD-Neri), Fabrics Piemontesi (Androni-Qiuigiovanni)
and Aristide Ratti (Carmiooro) on the front.
The first chase group only 03'18" back. The second half of the field, with Mark Cavendish inside, four
minutes down.
1450 CET: Gap update - 100 kilometers to go!! Caccia,
Piemontesi and Ratti barely held a minute's lead over the first
group, with Cannonball Cav a further 50 seconds behind.
1500 CET: km 201 / 097k to go. Fabrice Piemontesi,
Aristide Ratti and Diego Caccia have been chased down; the race just
hit the Manie climb, Katusha keeps dictating the pace in the (first)
group while the Cavendish group sits half a minute back.
A pale sun showed up over the finishing line, good for the
peloton that has met mostly bad weather so far.
Our live coverage continues in Part 2
