Milan San Remo was returned to the domain of the field sprint Saturday as Oscar Friere ripped the field of top sprinters to take a convincing second overall victory. There was no photo finish and now bike throw to beat a guy who thought he won (Zabel). This time the victory was pretty clear. Friere took advantage of the Milram sprint train and a fast fading Alessandro Petacchi. Staying on Petacchi’s wheel for the sprint down the Via Roma is probably the best spot in the peloton. Especially this year as Petacchi does not seem to have the extra speed he usually does. He is perhaps still suffering from the knee injury incurred at the Giro D’Italia last year. Petacchi has managed a few victories, but he does not have the same form that puts the Jet in AleJet.
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(Alessandro Petacchi of Fassa Bortolo wins in 2005)
Scroll to the end for the full start list for Milan-San Remo from tuttobiciweb.com
Filippo Pozzato gets the number one for being defending champ. Danilo DiLuca will not be lining up at the start due to the flu. Liquigas have a strong lineup featureing Enrico Gasparotto and Franco Pellizotti.
Tom Boonen and Paolo Bettini will be ready, but their recent form does not indicate that they will put in a spectacular performance. Bettini and Boonen are “gamer” type riders who get up for the big races. So it will not be a surprise to see these two in a good position on the Via Roma. I would not bet against the killer “B”s.
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Quick Step played their cards perfectly in an exciting finish to Milano San Remo. I wanted to actually see the finish before commenting on it. So far, I have watched the OLN coverage which was not bad. Next I will be watching taped coverage of the from RAI Sport. The finish was as described in most major website reports and was still exciting to watch despite knowing the outcome. Being an American cycling fan, you get used to watching events from which you know the outcome.
The most impressive aspect of Pippo Pozzato’s win, was the cold calculation (as described by Bob Roll) with which he waited before launching his attack. This may be a case where radio contact helps play out the finish. My guess is that Pozzato may have gotten the all clear from Boonen when the sprint did not look to unfold to the World Champ’s favor.
Pozzato was watching the breakaway deflate just in time for the sprinters to take the final charge to the line. Milram still had their team working, but Quick Step had riders everywhere expect in front of Boonen. Boonen’s tactic seemed to be just to stay on Petacchi’s wheel and go around if possible.
Pozzato stayed out long enough and was in a great position to launch a final sprint just ahead of the charging peloton. Pozzato did not look back to the charging sprint when he lauched his attack leading me to believe that he was instructed by either Boonen or Lefevre to go for the win. Petacchi came in just a few bike lengths behind in frustration at not being able to catch the young Italian at the line.
Quick Step’s tactics for the race were a risk, but played out perfectly. Everyone expected Quick Step to have their Treno Blue working side by side with Milram and Rabobank to help deliver the race to the Via Roma in a bunch finish. Quick Stp put pressure on Rabobank and Milram by constantly putting riders out to cover breaks and make Boonen shadow Petacchi until the finale. The end result was a brilliantly orchestrated team win. Pozzato is definately a deserving champion, but he certainly should thank his super teammates Bettini and Boonen.
Paolo Bettini put in a great performance to guide the peloton through the Cipressa and bring things together enough for the next break. Although he probably did not have the snap to launch an effective attack on the Poggio he showed that he is well on hs way to a full recovery and should be ready for the Tour of Flanders.
Luca Paolini is coming out of Bettini’s shadow with a scrappy third place. I say scrappy because he threw his bike to beat a celebrating Boonen. Paolini will be ready for more at the Tour of Flanders and the rest of the Spring Classics.
You have to feel for Ballan and Astarloa. They put themselves in the decisive break on the Poggio and had a good gap heading into the Via Roma finish. The only problem is that Pozzato’s effective covering of the break and the cat-and-muse tactics of the entire break doomed them to pack fodder. Too bad they could not organize anything more effective or at leats get rid of Pozzato somehow. Pozzato was too strong after not having to take a pull and feeling no pressure since his thought was more on working for Boonen than chasing personal glory. In the end Pozzato was in the right position and probably got the signal from the radio telling him to go for it.
The feast of San Giuseppe is traditional day that San Remo used to be raced on. That day to Americans is known as the day after St. Patrick’s Day. Usually San Remo was raced on the Saturday around St. Giuseppe. This year, San Remo is raced on that day, which would probably mean an Italian victory. Petacchi? Bettini? Astarloa (he is a wannabe Italian)?
Anyway, the anticipation is heating up as websites everywhere have to have some sort of word on the race. The anticipation this year is more intense due to the rivalry that is shaping up between Alessandro Petacchi and Tom Boonen. Since the World Championships in Madrid ended with a dejected Petacchi and a somewhat surpising winner in Boonen, the rivalry was on. There may have been times when the two competed against each other in the past, but this year the competition between the two sprinters seems to take on a new level. They are both looking to win Milano San Remo and there was a bit of trash talking from Boonen who said that Petacchi was not very impressive in Tirreno Adriatico. Oh, snap! Not too intense, but that is as much trash as we are going to get outside of Robbie McEwen and Gilberto Simoni.
So the stage is set, everyone is looking to the two sprinters to duke it out on the Via Roma. This is assuming they make it past the Cipressa in a bunch. It almost seems like a forgone conclusion that the result should contain a man named Boonen and another named Petacchi, either one of which will occupy the top spot. Why even race the race, just have a match sprint in the last 200 meters of the Via Roma and be done with it, save everybodies time while we are at it.
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(pic from qsicycling.com)
Usually it is the Southern Italians who have the hard heads. The Northern Italians are a little more reserved and precise. Paolo Bettini is from California which is considered Northern Italy, but he is digging out some Southern influences by showing how hard of a head he has by training for Milan San Remo after a brutal crash in Tirreno Adriatico.
Yesterday, Bettini took to the roads from his house to go training. After 1/2 hour he had to call his wife to pick him up because the pain was too much for Il Grillo to continue training. Bettini’s back, knee and hip are giving him trouble from the crash he suffered in Tirreno Adriatico. No broken bones or major injury, just some soreness from the crash and a few scrapes. But the pain is enough to make training very difficult.
Today, Bettini is showing that he is on his way to a quick recovery after spending two hours on the road which was followed up with a visit to the physiotherapist. The pain in his back and hips are still bothering Il Grillo, but he refuses to give up on the effort to get to the MSR start line.
“The crash still leaves me in pain, but my biggest concern is that I will be in the saddle for seven hours at Milan San Remo. I still believe I can be ready, tomorrow, I will rde for at least four hours. One thing is certain, on Friday I wlill be in Milan and on Saturday I will be at the start line of the race. Then, I will figure out how I will get to San Remo” — Bettini via TuttoBici
http://www.tuttobiciweb.com/home.htm
Yesterday’s Giro di Lucca produced another Ale-Jet victory. This is no surprise as Petacchi has shown great form this year and is on an early hot streak. The difference yesterday was that Erik Zabel was racing with Petacchi and acted as leadout man for the Italian. This is a newer development for the German-Italian team which before yesterday had Petacchi and Zabel racing separately.
“In the race I was really nervous because after 12 years as a leader this was the first time to give a real lead-out to a teammate,” said Zabel via Bici Race
Zabel despite having the junior version of the Milram leadout train was not able to get anything better than second place in several races. The Zabel contingent was only able to get a victory with Elia Rigotto who slipped off the front at the Tour Méditerranéen back in February.
Zabel’s new role may be a tough pill for the experienced German to swallow, but he is the ultimate professional. Having a top-of-the-line leadout man such as Zabel will prove invaluable for Petacchi in races such as Milan San Remo where the Treno Blu of Quick Step will be working hard for the World Champ Boonen to take a win.
The switch from Marco Velo to Erik Zabel as the final leadout man is probably for preparation for Milan San Remo. There would be less pressure for a rider as large as Velo to make it in the final group in San Remo.
Petacchi is hinting at taking t easy at Tirreno Adriatico this week. Perhaps he is trying to save his energy for Milan San Remo, but too many on-form cyclist have been downplaying their ambitions and form. So I look for Petacchi to win every sprint stage possible.
Bici Race
Ivan Basso is planning his 2006 season and it looks very ambitious. In addition to going for “The Double” he will be present at the first Classic of the season Milan-SanRemo March 18th.
Ciclismo: Basso alla Milano-Sanremo – Yahoo! Sport IT
