18-Mar-2017: Seven hours of sweating, staying focused on the bike and fighting for positioning ahead of the key points of a race which is usually decided in the final 15 minutes. To sum it up, that’s what Milano-Sanremo is about, but despite being action-packed only inside the last hour, it remains one of the most spectacular, thrilling and popular races on the calendar.
Lining up at the start on the Via della Chiesa Rossa, in the shadow of Milan’s Castello Sforzesco, the peloton left Lombardy behind and headed to the coast, where the real race would start.
In spite of the distance ahead of them, some brave souls made the jump after 10km, quickly building up a sizeable advantage. With a long day still ahead of them, the peloton allowed the break to go out ahead – knowing that the final 30km of the race were where the fireworks were going to happen. With some windy and foggy weather on the roads ahead, the contenders were conserving their energy for the finale, with BORA-hansgrohe taking charge at the front to control the pace to keep Peter Sagan fresh for the finish. The kilometres ticked down and the break fell from more than five minutes to two as the race neared its final 50km.
Attacks came on the succession of Capi, but it wasn’t until the Cipressa, the penultimate climb of the course, that several riders decided to make a move and test the bunch once the 10-man breakaway waved the flag. Quick-Step Floors, who until that point majestically led the pack thanks to an impressive and tireless Julien Vermote, had Philippe Gilbert track down the attackers and the Belgian Champion made sure no one got a gap.
On the flat section towards the Poggio, it was all together again, with Tom Boonen – making his final appearance at the race – driving the bunch. A regular feature on the route of Milano-Sanremo since 1960, when Gastone Nencini was the first rider at the top, Poggio (3.7 kilometers with an average gradient of 3.7%) played a huge role in the outcome, as Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) surged clear, putting some daylight between him and the other contenders.
No sooner had the escapees been reeled in, when the attacks came as fresher legs took charge, making audacious attempts to break away, only to be pulled back by the sprint teams, who were massing near the front. Knowing the race well, the UCI World Champion kept his head and saved himself for the day’s final climb, the Poggio.
Julian Alaphilippe was the first to respond, before Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) joined him, and it was thanks to the splendid effort of the Frenchman that the duo closed the gap and bridged to the front 500 meters from the top. On the fast and winding descent, the trio built a lead of 19 seconds, an advantage which proved impossible to be erased by the charging peloton.
Having placed in the top ten in four of the last five editions of Milano-Sanremo, the UCI World Champion, Peter Sagan, was looking to become the first man to win the race in the rainbow stripes in more than 30 years. Making an audacious attack on the Poggio, the BORA-hansgrohe rider made the 108th edition of the UCI World Tour’s longest race one to remember, just beaten to the win on the line after an audacious attack on the upper slopes of the Poggio, but taking top spot in the UCI World Tour after a successful start to his season.
With 6.3km of the race left, Peter attacked with a devastating turn of speed, dropping the peloton and with only a couple of riders able to go with him. Holding off the peloton in a way only he can with immense speed on the descent into Sanremo, it was all down to the three riders on the front as the finish line loomed. Putting everything into his sprint, Peter was just beaten by Sky’s Kwiatkowski, throwing his bike at the line to try and take the few centimetres that would make the difference.
Sagan:
While he wasn’t able to take the win, Peter was pleased with the exciting finale – both for himself and the fans watching the race. “I gave my all today. My team did a great job getting me to the Poggio safely. Luckily we didn’t crash – that was really important, as it was very close at the finish line after I finished my sprint. I think it’s important for the fans to have a spectacle – everyone’s happy. It was instinct to attack on the Poggio – I tried and after I attacked I saw I was alone, and then Kwiatkowski and Alaphilippe came with me. We descended to the finale and made it something really special.”
Alaphilippe:
“Today, my role was to cover the attacks on the Poggio, because Fernando was our road captain and we were hoping to bring him to the finish in the best possible position. So, when Sagan went, I followed. I went full gas on the Poggio and had hoped to recover a bit on the descent, but we rode really hard also there. My legs were empty at the finish and I sprinted against two very strong riders, but I don’t have any regret, despite coming close to winning this beautiful race. I am happy with this top 3 and I hope one day I will be victorious in Milano-Sanremo”, said Julian, first debutant in three years to podium at “La Classicissima”.
Alaphilippe, who made a big jump in the World Tour individual classification following this race, had words of praise for his teammates at the finish: “I am very grateful to them, they all did a wonderful job. Julien stayed at the front of the peloton for more than 200 kilometers, Philippe covered some of my rivals’ moves, Tom pulled hard before the Poggio, all of them were fantastic and deserve a big thank you. Today you could see again why this team is so great!”
Besides Alaphilippe, Quick-Step Floors placed another young and talented rider in the top 10, Fernando Gaviria. The 22-year-old was well placed in the peloton ahead of the Cipressa, but a saddle problem forced him to start the 5km-long climb at the back and due to the fast and furious pace it was impossible for him to change the bike, so he had to spend vital energy in order to return to the front by the time the bunch arrived at the bottom of the Poggio.
In the end, despite this incident and the pain he felt in his right wrist following Thursday’s training crash, Fernando sprinted from the peloton on the Via Roma and finished fifth, the best ever result of a Colombian rider at Milano-Sanremo.
