Milano-Sanremo 2010 [FULL RACE]

March 20, 2010

Milano-Sanremo 2010 – Milano – Sanremo : 298 km

The route for the 101th edition of Milan-San Remo is exactly the same as last year’s centenary race, with a total distance of 298 kilometres. That will mean almost seven hours in the saddle for the 200 riders in the peloton. The race again starts in the shadows of the Castello Sforzesco in the centre of Milan and ends on the Lungomare Italo Calvino overlooking the Mediterranean in San Remo. The Cipressa switch-backs its way up into the hills through olives trees and a small group of attackers often carve out a gap before the summit at the church. Some sprinters are dropped here but most make it over the top in the peloton and then get their teammates to chase down the break. While the Cipressa rarely decides the race, it does leave the sprinters in the red and with lactic acid burning in their legs.

Oscar Freire (Rabobank) claimed his third and most emphatic victory in the Italian Classic, Milan-San Remo, on Saturday afternoon. The Spaniard positioned himself perfectly for a sprint finish from a select group of 25 riders to defeat race favourite Tom Boonen (Quick Step) and Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-Farnese Vini).

Despite several spirited attempts by riders to get away on the ever-decisive Poggio, the favourites all regrouped in the three-kilometre dash towards the finish. Liquigas entered the final kilometre at the front, but it was a cagey Freire who benefited most from the lime green lead-out as he leapt out from third wheel to finish a bike length clear of Boonen.

“I think I deserved to win my first win Milan-San Remo because Zabel wasn’t the same rider he had been,” said Freire, as he compared his 2004 and 2007 wins with his latest title. “The second Milan-San Remo went really went and I did a great sprint. This year it was the same. I think I had good form. I was scared of the finish because it wasn’t on the Via Roma, which I prefer. Fortunately it went well.”

Snap, crackle and pop on the Poggio

The sprint finish defied pre-race predictions of late attackers being able to stay away, though, it was not for lack of trying. A nervous-looking peloton appeared willing to delay hostilities on the Cipressa, and despite a move by Alexandr Kolobnev (Katusha) towards the top of the penultimate climb, it wasn’t until the Poggio that all-out war commenced.

A bold move by Yoann Offredo (Francaise des Jeux) on the descent off the Cipressa was met just kilometres later, on the Poggio, with a stampede from a Stefano Garzelli-led peloton. As the Acqua & Sapone man swung off, Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia) tore off the front of the race, with Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) and Filippo Pozzato (Katusha) launching their own counter-attacks.

Pozzato led the race over the summit, but as he began the descent, the proximity of his rivals made it clear that a sizable group was going to make it to the finish. Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) led a hair-raising descent into San Remo and although he took Pozzato, Gilbert, Thor Hushovd (Cervelo TestTeam) and Matti Breschel (Saxo Bank) with him, the race once again came back together as the terrain flattened out for the final kilometres.

Freire admitted afterwards that this regrouping was key to his eventual victory. “The most difficult moment for me was on the descent of Poggio,” he said. “Pozzato got a gap with five or six others. I was scared they’d stay away. Then when he attacked I knew I had to just find a good wheel because I couldn’t chase him. That was the only way I could win was in a sprint.”

A final flourish from Nibali was answered by Pozzato, who went clear with two kilometres to go. After a moment’s hesitation by the pack, Liquigas took responsibility for drawing the Italian Champion back once more as its team led the way into the final kilometre. Around a minute later, Freire slid out of their slipstream and sprinted across the line for yet another famous victory at La Classicisma.

“The statistics say that Milan-San Remo finishes more often than not in a sprint and so the sprinters have to wait for the sprint. There are always attacks, for sure, but there always are a lot of sprinters who want a sprint finish. A team like Liquigas could have done everything, go on the attack or wait for the sprint. They opted for a sprint but we all took advantage of that.

“When I started the sprint I knew I was in a good position and had good legs for it,” he said. “I’d been worried about being blocked in like two years ago but this time the right people were up there for the sprint and I found the right wheel. Bennati went, but I don’t think he had the legs today.”

And so it begins

Just under seven hours earlier, the peloton had left a drizzly Milan for their journey to the coast. With the flag pulled in, the customary early attack followed just three kilometres down the road. Unsurprisingly, it was an all Italian affair as Fabrice Piemontesi (Androni Giocatolli), Aristide Ratti (Carmiooro NGC) and Diego Caccia (ISD-Neri) used the outskirts of Milan to make good their escape.

With almost 300 kilometres on the day’s agenda, the trio were given a wide berth. Lampre-Farnese Vini, Liquigas-Doimo, Katusha and HTC-Columbia were the teams patrolling the front of the peloton behind, but their tempo was tranquil enough to allow the leaders to push out to over 22 minutes. However, as they approached the Passo del Turchino the leaders’ time gap commenced its gradual retreat.

Quick Step now making themselves visible at the front of the main group, the time gap began to drop. The leaders began the climb with 16:25 and they finished it with a little over 12 minutes. There was no rush to shrink that gap further, and the leaders were still out in front on the slopes of Le Mànie, with 100 kilometres to go. But their advantage was now a meagre two minutes.

While the leaders had been making their way between the Turchino and Le Mànie, the race behind had split after a crash on the descent of the Turchino, with reigning champion Mark Cavendish caught in the latter selection. The Briton’s HTC-Columbia squad immediately came to the front in order to limit the damage. While Cavendish’s men set to work, Murilo Fischer (Garmin-Transitions), who had also crashed in the incident, left the race with a broken collarbone.

As attention focussed on the gap between the pelotons, the leaders were brought back by the front section of the grim-coated group at 81 kilometres-to-go. Caccia, who had spent more than 200 kilometres out in front, had clearly developed a penchant for that position in the race. The Italian took point duty at the front and controlled the tempo of the 30-strong group for another five kilometres.

With no-one in the mood to push the pace in the front group, the two halves of the peloton reformed. But at 60 kilometres to go AG2R-La Mondiale’s Maxime Bouet decided to attempt mission impossible as he fired off the front. The young Frenchman quickly built a 20-second buffer, which he gradually stretched out towards 40 seconds. Dimitri Grabovskyy (ISD-Neri) was one of the first to answer the move as seven riders attempted to bridge across to the lone leader.

Grabovskyy was the only one able to catch Bouet. He made brief contact before storming past the AG2R rider on the Capo Berta. Unfortunately for the Ukrainian, the peloton had started to sharpen the pencil and it wasn’t long before he too was recouped after the town of Imperia, with 37 kilometres to go.

With Grabovskyy caught and the peloton once again back to status quo, Milram led onto the Cipressa and into what would be a fantastic finale for Freire.

Results :
1 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank 6:57:28
2 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step
3 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini
4 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Colnago – CSF Inox
5 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
6 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team
7 Francesco Ginanni (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
8 Maxim Iglinsky (Kaz) Astana
9 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
10 Luca Paolini (Ita) Acqua & Sapone
11 Matti Breschel (Den) Team Saxo Bank
12 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Française Des Jeux
13 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Astana
14 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Team Radioshack
15 Paul Martens (Ger) Rabobank
16 Yoann Offredo (Fra) Française Des Jeux
17 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank
18 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Sky Professional Cycling Team
19 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) Team Milram
20 Pablo Lastras Garcia (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
21 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quick Step
22 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team
23 Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
24 Xavier Florencio Cabre (Spa) Cervelo Test Team
25 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team HTC – Columbia
26 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana 0:00:09
27 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Sky Professional Cycling Team
28 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
29 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Team Katusha 0:00:18
30 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 0:00:21
31 Serguei Ivanov (Rus) Team Katusha 0:00:39
32 Simon Clarke (Aus) ISD – Neri 0:01:35
33 Lorenzo Bernucci (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini
34 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini
35 Andreas Klier (Ger) Cervelo Test Team
36 Alan Perez Lezaun (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 0:01:40
37 Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) Team Radioshack
38 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
39 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
40 Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) Carmiooro NGC
41 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Team Milram
42 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin – Transitions
43 Juan Jose Oroz Ugalde (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
44 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Team HTC – Columbia
45 Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
46 Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Team Katusha
47 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
48 Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Team Katusha
49 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Caisse d’Epargne
50 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram
51 Markus Fothen (Ger) Team Milram
52 Karsten Kroon (Ned) BMC Racing Team
53 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Française Des Jeux
54 Michael Barry (Can) Sky Professional Cycling Team
55 George Hincapie (USA) BMC Racing Team
56 Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) Team Radioshack
57 Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) Team Radioshack
58 Jackson Rodriguez (Ven) Androni Giocattoli
59 Gabriel Rasch (Nor) Cervelo Test Team
60 Bram Tankink (Ned) Rabobank
61 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Rabobank
62 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Rabobank
63 Oscar Gatto (Ita) ISD – Neri
64 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) BMC Racing Team
65 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
66 Rene Mandri (Est) AG2R La Mondiale
67 William Bonnet (Fra) BBox Bouygues Telecom
68 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quick Step
69 Emanuele Sella (Ita) Carmiooro NGC
70 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini
71 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Quick Step
72 Inaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
73 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Colnago – CSF Inox
74 Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini
75 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick Step
76 Jose Rodolfo Serpa Perez (Col) Androni Giocattoli
77 Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini
78 Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Astana
79 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
80 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française Des Jeux
81 Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Caisse d’Epargne
82 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo 0:01:49
83 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone
84 Dimitri Champion (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:54
85 Francesco Failli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone 0:03:04
86 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas-Doimo 0:03:13
87 Vasili Kiryienka (Blr) Caisse d’Epargne
88 Steve Chainel (Fra) BBox Bouygues Telecom 0:05:29
89 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team HTC – Columbia 0:06:12
90 Mirko Selvaggi (Ita) Astana
91 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) ISD – Neri
92 Grégory Rast (Swi) Team Radioshack
93 Thomas Leezer (Ned) Rabobank
94 Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank
95 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Rabobank
96 Greg Henderson (NZl) Sky Professional Cycling Team
97 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Cervelo Test Team
98 Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Garmin – Transitions
99 Christopher Sutton (Aus) Sky Professional Cycling Team
100 Cameron Wurf (Aus) Androni Giocattoli
101 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
102 Frédéric Guesdon (Fra) Française Des Jeux
103 Mickael Delage (Fra) Omega Pharma-Lotto
104 Anders Lund (Den) Team Saxo Bank
105 David Millar (GBr) Garmin – Transitions
106 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Professional Cycling Team
107 Marco Velo (Ita) Quick Step
108 Xabier Zandio Echaide (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
109 Sébastien Turgot (Fra) BBox Bouygues Telecom 0:10:07
110 Biel Kadri (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
111 Luca Mazzanti (Ita) Team Katusha
112 Daryl Impey (RSA) Team Radioshack
113 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Team Radioshack
114 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team
115 Peter Wrolich (Aut) Team Milram
116 Alan Marangoni (Ita) Colnago – CSF Inox
117 Marco Frapporti (Ita) Colnago – CSF Inox
118 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale
119 Mathieu Claude (Fra) BBox Bouygues Telecom
120 Stuart O’grady (Aus) Team Saxo Bank
121 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Team HTC – Columbia
122 Matthew Wilson (Aus) Garmin – Transitions
123 Paul Voss (Ger) Team Milram
124 Danilo Hondo (Ger) Lampre-Farnese Vini
125 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
126 Allan Davis (Aus) Astana
127 Frank Hoj (Den) Team Saxo Bank
128 Gustav Larsson (Swe) Team Saxo Bank
129 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Sky Professional Cycling Team
130 Dmytro Grabovskyy (Ukr) ISD – Neri
131 Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita) ISD – Neri
132 Aristide Ratti (Ita) Carmiooro NGC
133 Jure Kocjan (Slo) Carmiooro NGC
134 Vladimir Miholjevic (Cro) Acqua & Sapone
135 Alessandro Fantini (Ita) Acqua & Sapone
136 Pablo Urtasun Perez (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
137 Jorge Azanza Soto (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
138 Laurent Beuret (Swi) Carmiooro NGC
139 Rubens Bertogliati (Swi) Androni Giocattoli
140 Eric Berthou (Fra) Carmiooro NGC
141 Luke Roberts (Aus) Team Milram 0:10:18
142 Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Cervelo Test Team 0:14:24
143 Olivier Bonnaire (Fra) Française Des Jeux
144 Alessandro Donati (Ita) Acqua & Sapone
145 Valeriy Dmitriyev (Kaz) Astana 0:17:17
146 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
147 Roy Sentjens (Bel) Team Milram
148 Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
149 Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) Française Des Jeux
150 Diego Caccia (Ita) ISD – Neri
151 Daniele Ratto (Ita) Carmiooro NGC
152 Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
153 Fabrice Piemontesi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
DNF Michael Albasini (Swi) Team HTC – Columbia
DNF Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) Team HTC – Columbia
DNF Maxime Monfort (Bel) Team HTC – Columbia
DNF Peter Velits (Svk) Team HTC – Columbia
DNF Dario Andriotto (Ita) Acqua & Sapone
DNF Massimo Codol (Ita) Acqua & Sapone
DNF Alexander Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Damiano Margutti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
DNF Sergey Renev (Kaz) Astana
DNF Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) BBox Bouygues Telecom
DNF Saïd Haddou (Fra) BBox Bouygues Telecom
DNF Alexandre Pichot (Fra) BBox Bouygues Telecom
DNF Damien Gaudin (Fra) BBox Bouygues Telecom
DNF Jeffry Louder (USA) BMC Racing Team
DNF Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
DNF Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Caisse d’Epargne
DNF Arnaud Coyot (Fra) Caisse d’Epargne
DNF Raffaele Ferrara (Ita) Carmiooro NGC
DNF Roger Hammond (GBr) Cervelo Test Team
DNF Dominique Rollin (Can) Cervelo Test Team
DNF Mattia Gavazzi (Ita) Colnago – CSF Inox
DNF Manuel Belletti (Ita) Colnago – CSF Inox
DNF Federico Canuti (Ita) Colnago – CSF Inox
DNF Simone Stortoni (Ita) Colnago – CSF Inox
DNF Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
DNF Amets Txurruka (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
DNF Julian Dean (NZl) Garmin – Transitions
DNF Murilo Antonio Fischer (Bra) Garmin – Transitions
DNF Svein Tuft (Can) Garmin – Transitions
DNF Martijn Maaskant (Ned) Garmin – Transitions
DNF Carlo Scognamiglio (Ita) ISD – Neri
DNF Bartosz Huzarski (Pol) ISD – Neri
DNF Mauro Da Dalto (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini
DNF Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
DNF Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
DNF Michiel Elijzen (Ned) Omega Pharma-Lotto
DNF Sebastian Lang (Ger) Omega Pharma-Lotto
DNF Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Quick Step
DNF Maarten Wynants (Bel) Quick Step
DNF Ian Stannard (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team
DNF Marco Bandiera (Ita) Team Katusha
DNF Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus) Team Katusha
DNF Kim Kirchen (Lux) Team Katusha
DNF Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Team Radioshack
DNF Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank
DNF Baden Cooke (Aus) Team Saxo Bank