Milano-Sanremo 2016 [FULL RACE]

March 19, 2016

Milano-Sanremo 2016 – Milano – Sanremo : 293 km

After the early season races around the world, a taste of Belgium with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and then a final block of preparation via Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico, the racing turns very serious on Saturday with the 107th edition of Milan-San Remo, cycling’s first of the so-called five monument Classics. Milan-San Remo is known as La Classicissima in Italy and La Primavera elsewhere, due to the race falling close to the day of the spring Equinox. It is the true start to a month of spring Classics and a race where victory can change a rider’s career forever. This year the start list and early-season results indicate we are on the cusp of a generation change but the distance, tactics and pressure make it difficult for young riders to have a perfect race and win. Milan-San Remo is a cruel race and riders often need to endure defeat before savouring the moment of victory. This year’s Milan-San Remo comes a day after Fabian Cancellara’s 35th birthday and the day before the spring equinox. It will be fascinating to see if the planets align for the Swiss veteran in his final season or if we see the likes of 21-year-old Fernando Gaviria emerge. As always the spring weather between Milan and San Remo and the balance of power between the sprinters and the attacks will decide the race, with a split second of hesitation or a moment of inspiration enough to change the outcome, right up to the legendary Via Roma finish line.

Arnaud Demare (FDJ) ended France’s long wait for monument when he took the crown in Milan-San Remo. The Frenchman won the sprint by half a bike length over Ben Swift (Team Sky) and Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto-Soudal), with a late crash spoiling the chances for several riders.

Demare also suffered a crash on the Cipressa, but re-joined the front of the race on the slopes of Poggio before taking the win, courtesy of a perfectly-timed sprint.

The day was marked by numerous wrecks, the most crucial coming when Etixx-Quickstep rider Fernando Gaviria touched wheels and fell in the final few hundred metres. He knocked world champion Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) off his line and the Tinkoff rider was unable to regain his momentum after almost 300 kilometres or racing.

The disrupted sprint was led out by Roelandts but Demare came past with a huge turn of speed to snatch the victory. He first made up ground to Roelandts, just as Nacer Bouhanni suffered a mechanical, before coming around the Lotto-Soudal rider. Swift tracked Demare all the way but was unable to overhaul the Frenchman.

“This is incredible. There are days like this one in which everything works despite the occasional hiccup, like crashing at the bottom of the Cipressa,” Demare said.

“I made it across at the bottom of the Poggio and the entire way I felt fantastic. I became the under-23 world champion in similar conditions after crashing. I’m delighted to win Milan-San Remo. This is a big one and has been running for over a century. It’s extraordinary. I’m extremely happy.”

An earlier break on the Cipressa came to nothing, and a large group started the final climb, the Poggio, together. There were few genuine attacks on the ascent with Michael Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) providing the first real threat and going clear with 6km to go.

Home favourite Vincenzo Nibali led a furious chase on the descent, and although the attacks continued, the small field came together with Kwiatkowski on the flat run-in after a huge turn from Fabian Cancellara. The Trek-Segafredo rider, competing in his final Classics campaign, was a marked man, with Matteo Trentin pinned to his wheel.

With just over 1,000 metres remaining Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) surged clear but he, with Greg Van Avermaet on his wheel, was unable to hold off the chase.

Suddenly Gaviria appeared and although he had Sagan on his wheel the Colombian looked like the favourite for the sprint as the leaders rounded the final corner. A touch of wheel destroyed the neo-pro rider’s first Milan-San Remo and took Sagan out of contention as a bunch of riders, including Demare, not only regained contact with the head of the race, but surged for the line.

Nacer Bouhanni, the Frenchman most commentators, had been talked about in the build-up, was present. He and Demare were former FDJ teammates, but Bouhanni was denied the chance to sprint, suffering a cruel mechanical with the line in sight. It was of no consequence to Demare who hit the front of Milan-San Remo with a powerful sprint.

France’s wait for a winner of Milan-San Remo stretched back to 1995, while their last Monument came two year’s later in Lombardia. The wait is finally over. Demare has well and truly arrived.

How it unfolded

Warm sunshine and pleasant spring temperatures greeted the peloton as it gathered outside Castello Sforzesco for the start of Milan-San Remo, a far cry from the dank conditions of recent years. There were brighter hues than usual on the roadside, too, as the familiar names of Pavia, Casteggio, Tortona and Novi Ligure trundled by on the long trek from Milan to the Riviera.

The race quickly settled into its traditional rhythm once the flag dropped. The typically intense start was followed by a respite of sorts once the day’s early break sallied clear on leaving Binasco, after 14 kilometres.

Gediminas Bagdonas (AG2R La Mondiale), Serghei Tvetcov (Giocattoli Androni-Sidermec), Mirco Maestri (Bardiani-CSF), Jan Barta (Bora-Argon 18), Adrian Hurek (CCC-Sprandi Polkowice), Roger Kluge (IAM Cycling), Matteo Bono (Lampre-Merida), Samuele Conti (Southeast-Venezuela), Maarten Tjallingii (LottoNL-Jumbo), Andrea Peron (Team Novo Nordisk) and Marco Coledan (Trek-Segafredo) quickly established a solid understanding, building a maximum lead of 10:35 after 50 kilometres, before Orica-GreenEdge and Tinkoff set about managing the deficit.

By that point, word had spread of a landslide on the coast road near Arenzano, with 130 kilometres remaining, but organisers RCS Sport moved swiftly to arrange an alteration to the route that allowed the race to circumvent the roadblock by switching onto the motorway for 9 kilometres.

Meanwhile, the escapees reached the top of the Turchino with a lead of 5 minutes over the bunch, where Manuele Boaro (Tinkoff) was doing the bulk of the heavy lifting. The speed ratcheted upwards on the motorway section, and the break’s gap continued to dwindle as they tackled the headlands of the Riviera.

By the first of the five capi, the Capo Mele, the gap was down to 2:18 and the increasing tension in the peloton was demonstrated by the nervous crashes, with Julien Vermote (Etixx-QuickStep) and Federico Zurlo (Lampre-Merida) among those to come down in separate incidents.

The advantage melted further on the Capo Cervo, dropping to 1:30, and it hovered at around the minute mark by the Capo Berta. The 11 escapees’ adventure would fizzle out soon afterwards ahead of the endgame on the Cipressa and the Poggio.

On the descent Marco Haller crashed, leaving Kristoff without a valuable piece of his armoury but Katusha continued to apply the pressure.

The fight for positioning saw another crash take place, this time with pre-race favourite Michael Matthews hitting the deck with Demare and Team Sky’s Peter Kennaugh. All looked lost for those involved, especially when Katusha continued with their work on the front but the chasers never gave up and used the Cipressa to pace themselves back into contention.

With 25km remaining the break was finally caught. Giovanni Visconti slipped clear halfway up the climb, dragging Ian Stannard with him. On the descent, the pair were joined by Daniel Oss, Matteo Montaguti, and Fabio Sabatini, the latter unwilling to work with Gaviria still in the main field. However, the 9km run into the Poggio always favoured the peloton and by the time the race hit the lower slopes Demare was back and the peloton had regrouped

Kristoff looked in control as his team set about the pace duties and although Kwiatkowski soared clear – partly to soften up the bunch but also to aim for his won success – there were enough favourites to neutralise the move.

From the descent to the line – the race had everything bar a predicted finish. Within less than a few seconds the favourite tag switched with almost violent inconsistency from Boassan Hagen to Van Avermaet, to Gaviria to Bouhanni. However, it was Demare who came out on top.

Results :
1 Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ 6:54:45
2 Ben Swift (GBr) Team Sky
3 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Soudal
4 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
5 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
6 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha
7 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) IAM Cycling
8 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Southeast – Venezuela
9 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF
10 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Etixx – Quick-Step
11 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team
12 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff Team
13 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
14 Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Cannondale Pro Cycling
15 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team
16 Jan Bakelants (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
17 Niccolo Bonifazio (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
18 Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ
19 Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin
20 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec
21 Davide Rebellin (Ita) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
22 Andrea Fedi (Ita) Southeast – Venezuela
23 Paul Voss (Ger) Bora-Argon 18
24 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
25 Lars Boom (Ned) Astana Pro Team
26 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data
27 Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team
28 Dayer Quintana (Col) Movistar Team
29 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
30 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec
31 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Trek-Segafredo
32 Jarlinson Pantano (Col) IAM Cycling 0:00:08
33 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team
34 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal
35 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Soudal
36 Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
37 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Team Katusha
38 Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:00:11
39 Vicente Reynes (Spa) IAM Cycling 0:00:14
40 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky 0:00:34
41 Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:00:36
42 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
43 Martin Elmiger (Swi) IAM Cycling
44 Koen De Kort (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
45 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team
46 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team
47 Leigh Howard (Aus) IAM Cycling
48 Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) IAM Cycling
49 Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Team Sky
50 Paul Martens (Ger) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
51 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
52 Davide Vigano (Ita) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec
53 Mirko Selvaggi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec
54 Michael Morkov (Den) Team Katusha
55 Tom Boonen (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step
56 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Tinkoff Team
57 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky
58 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre – Merida
59 Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
60 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Sky 0:00:43
61 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:00:44
62 Dominik Nerz (Ger) Bora-Argon 18 0:00:53
63 Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ 0:01:12
64 Zico Waeytens (Bel) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:01:26
65 Oscar Gatto (Ita) Tinkoff Team 0:01:30
66 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team 0:01:38
67 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step
68 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) FDJ
69 Dylan Van Baarle (Ned) Cannondale Pro Cycling
70 Jan Barta (Cze) Bora-Argon 18
71 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
72 Enrico Barbin (Ita) Bardiani CSF
73 Simone Ponzi (Ita) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
74 Sven Erik Bystr¿m (Nor) Team Katusha
75 Simon Spilak (Slo) Team Katusha
76 Angel Vicioso (Spa) Team Katusha
77 Stephen Cummings (GBr) Dimension Data
78 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Etixx – Quick-Step
79 Fernando Gaviria (Col) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:01:48
80 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Etixx – Quick-Step
81 Gatis Smukulis (Lat) Astana Pro Team 0:01:53
82 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team
83 Marco Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec
84 Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky
85 Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
86 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ
87 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
88 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:01:59
89 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team 0:02:43
90 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Argon 18
91 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky
92 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data
93 K_vin Reza (Fra) FDJ 0:02:58
94 David Lozano Riba (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk 0:03:17
95 Simon Yates (GBr) Orica-GreenEdge 0:03:18
96 Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:03:26
97 Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Astana Pro Team
98 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:03:29
99 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
100 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Tinkoff Team
101 Mirco Maestri (Ita) Bardiani CSF
102 Moreno Moser (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
103 Simone Andreetta (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:03:31
104 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre – Merida
105 Rudiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Argon 18 0:04:13
106 Bartlomiej Matysiak (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:04:25
107 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Astana Pro Team
108 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Lampre – Merida
109 Jaroslaw Marycz (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
110 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data
111 Gregory Rast (Swi) Trek-Segafredo
112 Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Bardiani CSF
113 Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team 0:06:16
114 Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:06:46
115 Luis Angel Mate (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
116 Roger Kluge (Ger) IAM Cycling 0:07:01
117 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal
118 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Tinkoff Team
119 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Trek-Segafredo 0:09:25
120 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) Lampre – Merida
121 Hugo Houle (Can) AG2R La Mondiale
122 Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica-GreenEdge 0:10:16
123 Daniel Martin (Irl) Etixx – Quick-Step
124 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
125 Victor de la Parte (Spa) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:10:48
126 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Lotto Soudal 0:11:37
127 Marco Haller (Aut) Team Katusha
128 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Argon 18 0:12:53
129 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Argon 18
130 Bert De Backer (Bel) Team Giant-Alpecin
131 Tom Stamsnijder (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
132 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
133 Jesse Sergent (NZl) AG2R La Mondiale
134 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) Movistar Team
135 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Soudal
136 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team
137 Julen Amezqueta (Spa) Southeast – Venezuela
138 Gregor Muhlberger (Aut) Bora-Argon 18
139 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data
140 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team
141 Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec
142 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx – Quick-Step
143 Juan Jose Lobato (Spa) Movistar Team
144 Manuele Boaro (Ita) Tinkoff Team
145 Marco Coledan (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
146 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Lampre – Merida
147 Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre – Merida
148 Manuel Belletti (Ita) Southeast – Venezuela
149 Mirko Tedeschi (Ita) Southeast – Venezuela
150 Patrick Gretsch (Ger) AG2R La Mondiale 0:14:25
151 Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk
152 Alan Marangoni (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
153 Martijn Verschoor (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk
154 Christopher Williams (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk
155 Serghei Tvetcov (Rom) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec
156 Gediminas Bagdonas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale
157 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Orica-GreenEdge
158 Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
159 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica-GreenEdge
160 Kevin De Mesmaeker (Bel) Team Novo Nordisk
161 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) IAM Cycling
162 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:14:28
163 Mickael Delage (Fra) FDJ
164 Thomas Leezer (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
165 William Bonnet (Fra) FDJ
166 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Soudal
167 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica-GreenEdge
168 Adam Blythe (GBr) Tinkoff Team
169 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky
170 Adrian Honkisz (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
171 Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Orica-GreenEdge
172 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Cannondale Pro Cycling
173 Adrian Kurek (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:17:59
174 Jay Robert Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data 0:19:07
175 Eugenio Alafaci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
176 Nikolay Mihaylov (Bul) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
177 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF
178 Samuele Conti (Ita) Southeast – Venezuela 0:21:17
179 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) Southeast – Venezuela
180 Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:22:25
DNF Federico Zurlo (Ita) Lampre – Merida
DNF Carlos Betancur (Col) Movistar Team
DNF Sam Bewley (NZl) Orica-GreenEdge
DNF Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin
DNF Albert Timmer (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
DNF Sergey Lagutin (Rus) Team Katusha
DNF Javier Megias (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
DNF Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
DNF Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre – Merida
DNF Julien Vermote (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step
DNF Serge Pauwels (Bel) Dimension Data
DNF Daniele Bennati (Ita) Tinkoff Team
DNF Giorgio Cecchinel (Ita) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec
DNF Nicola Boem (Ita) Bardiani CSF
DNF Stefano Pirazzi (Ita) Bardiani CSF
DNF Simon Clarke (Aus) Cannondale Pro Cycling
DNF Jerome Cousin (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Nathan Haas (Aus) Dimension Data
DNS Moreno Hofland (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo