The Spring Classics - 2016

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"I thought it was game over [after my earlier crash]. From the team car, I was told that Michael Matthews’ group was behind, but that I shouldn’t worry. William Bonnet was along. I had great legs on the Cipressa and successively I found my team-mates, Matthieu Ladagnous, Kevin Reza and Ignites Konovalovas, who replaced in extremis at the foot of the Poggio. I thought I had lost a lot of energy but I climbed the Poggio very well despite my efforts. But everyone was cooked and I had nothing to lose. I launched my sprint from far out as usual. I had lost track of how the race unfolded so I wasn’t too sure if all the attackers had been caught, but the cars ahead of the race helped me to understand that I was sprinting for the win. I thought it would have taken me more experience to win Milan-Sanremo, one of the five classics that all cyclists dream of winning."

[Gen]

Oho

 

Capecchi & Tosatto claim they saw Démare holding on to car yesterday

 

Releasing power/GPS file would be great way for FDJ to dispel rumours.

 

 

https://twitter.com/daniellloyd1/status/711473636415299584

['Dale]

Oho

 

Capecchi & Tosatto claim they saw Démare holding on to car yesterday

 

Releasing power/GPS file would be great way for FDJ to dispel rumours.

 

 

https://twitter.com/daniellloyd1/status/711473636415299584

 

 

Oh 

 

   

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Michael Kwiatkowski: We had a few ways to try to win

Eventually crossing the line on his own in 40th, Kwiatkowski was painfully aware how close he'd come to staying away.

 

"I attacked and tried to gain an advantage before the descent," he confirmed. "I was going full gas to the finish. I think we can be happy with second place with Ben. It was a really difficult, nervous last 50-60 kilometres.

 

"The race really starts before the Capis. Everyone was trying to get to the front, and with the weather this year the whole bunch were there fighting.

 

"We all committed to go for the win. I was not too far away at the end. Stannard was in a great move on the Cipressa, I was there on the Poggio and then Swifty was waiting for the sprint.

 

"We had a few ways to try and win the race and that is what Milan-San Remo is all about. You have to try with a few options as sometimes there are crashes and you don't know what is going to happen or control the situation.

 

“My goal was to attack on the Poggio and be first on the descent, and even to be solo, but we all knew that it's better to have someone in the front like me and then have Swift waiting in the back for the sprint. That worked out pretty much.

 

"I had a good advantage at the top. But alone, it was very complicated. We lost Geraint (Thomas) before the Cipressa. With him and Peter Kennaugh, we could have pushed harder to explode the peloton. We did our best. I tried to attack and get alone to the finish We knew that there was also Ben (Swift) in the peloton and he was close to Démare.”

 

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Greg Van Avermaet: It’s a good feeling to beat the other Classics riders

Greg Van Avermaet has crossed the line in fifth place in a bunch sprint at the first monument of the season, Milan-San Remo.

 

“Fifth place is a good result but as you know when you do a bike race you go for the win. It was a pretty hectic Milan-San Remo. I went with Edvald Boasson-Hagen and made the decision to wait a bit longer for my sprint. It all comes down to seconds and the others came from behind with more speed,” Van Avermaet explained.

 

“It’s a good feeling to be in front of the other Classics favorites. I’m pretty happy with my shape and how the race went. The guys did a really good job for me. They positioned me well on Cipressa and the Poggio and then it was up to me to get the best result possible and that’s what we did.

 

"It was not easy to drive because there were still a lot of people in the group. It was not really worth to try something on the Poggio. I wanted to focus everything on my sprint,” he told Sporza.

 

“Everything went well, but Boasson Hagen could have been continued a little longer. If he had continued a little further, then I could start 300 meters from the finish.

 

"I had to wait a while and then you know that there is a risk they will come back. Bouhanni then had a gear problem so I had to just avoid him in the sprint.

 

"Oh, I'm pleased with the progress. Everyone was reasonably fresh in the final. This was not really a tough Milan-Sanremo. It was an issue for the sprinters."

 

BMC Racing Team Sports Director Valerio Piva said the team did an excellent job of supporting Van Avermaet.

 

“Our plan for today was of course to go for the win with Greg. We planned to stay up there at the front and respond to any attacks on the Poggio, to stay calm and really put him in a good position in the final part of the race,” Piva said.

 

“Greg did a great job. He responded to Boasson Hagen’s attack in the final two kilometers and held his wheel to form a gap but eventually it all came back together. It was a nervous and hectic sprint. Greg had the legs today to do better, but it’s Milan-San Remo and you can never control what happens. In the end he was the best placed of the top favorites and I’m really proud of the team’s work today.”

 

Van Avermaet’s fifth place has elevated him to second place in the UCI WorldTour rankings, behind Richie Porte.

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Frustrated Kristoff out of position in Sanremo sprint: I have never felt so good

Clear skies and warm temperatures greeted the peloton on Saturday’s 107th Milano-Sanremo with Team KATUSHA’s 2014 champion Alexander Kristoff looking to secure another win in the cycling monument. But difficulty in positioning and the loss of a key rider put Kristoff too far back to win and saw the Norwegian take sixth in the group sprint behind surprise winner Arnaud Démare of FDJ.

 

“I feel frustrated about the race because I was feeling good. We missed the last corner – I knew we needed to be in the top five places but we were at least 10 back. It was too far at that point, plus then came the crash so I lost it there,” said team sprinter Alexander Kristoff.

 

A crash with less than 500 m to go disrupted the sprint and put Kristoff a little behind as the front riders opened up at 200 m to the line. A surprised Démare took the win ahead of Sky’s Ben Swift and Jurgen Roelandts of Lotto Soudal after almost seven hours of racing on the 293 km course which included the famous climbs of the Cipressa at 27 km to go and the Poggio with only 9 km to go.

 

“I actually felt the best I’ve ever felt when we came over the Poggio. With the warm weather I was expecting many attacks and we did see that, but there were also more guys there to close it down. It was a hard race of course, but the good weather made it easier compared to other times. With Marco there it would have been easier for us, especially as we would try to come to the front. It could have made a difference. It’s frustrating to lose because of bad positioning instead of losing on the line,” concluded Kristoff, referring to a crash with 32 km to go that took down teammate Marco Haller.

 

“It went perfect until the last kilometer. There was great work all day from the team. First with Sergey Lagutin until km 140 – he fully controlled the difference to the breakaway. After that the team riders kept good position, always protecting Alex. We passed the hills before the Cipressa always in the front. Unfortunately just before the Cipressa there was a crash and we lost Marco, but the other riders were still right there with Alex, especially between the Cipressa and the Poggio, they were always near the front. On the downhill of the Poggio Alex was still in the middle and there were some attacks. It’s here that we missed Marco Haller. I think without the crash Marco would have been right there at the front,” assessed team director José Azevedo.

 

“Michael Mørkøv did a great job before Cipressa and between the climbs. We also saw Simon Špilak, Angel Vicioso and Sven Erik Bystrøm working in the earlier climbs. Jacopo Guarnieri was also helping but we missed Marco in the final. He was the rider that we’d planned would stay with Alex in the end. Alex had to start his sprint too far and there was a crash close to the finish line, at 500 m to go so he had to brake and go around. He had to come from the back. I hope the next race will bring us better luck,”  concluded Azevedo.

 

Heinrich Haussler: Today I was rewarded for all my sacrifices

“I am very, very happy,” Heinrich Haussler declared shortly after having secured a terrific 7th place in the 107th edition of Milan-San Remo.  “I really received unconditional support from the team in this nervous final that was marked by many crashes.  I am very grateful to Vicente Reynes who used his vast experience to place me in the right position at the right time.  It would have been hard to do better under these conditions.  This top-10 place will remain an excellent memory for me, and above all will give me the sort of confidence I need for the rest of the classics.”

 

The 32 year old Australian who is the dad of twins found himself back on the center stage after having passed two subdued seasons. 

 

“I have matured and focused on my work all winter.  I really worked to clear my mind of all those disappointments of the past years.  Today, I feel my efforts and sacrifices have been rewarded.  I don’t intend to stop here, since I am always thinking about the coming races.”

 

 “We had two objectives this morning before the departure: to put one of our riders in the breakaway and to finish in the top-10,” Mario Chiesa, IAM Cycling directeur sportif explained after the race.  “Roger Kluge, although suffering from a fever, found the strength to join the right escape group, and managed to stay off the front until the Cipressa.  And then to top it all off, we had Heinrich Haussler grabbing himself a nice 7th place.  Though we can say with a certain amount of satisfaction that we accomplished our mission today, we were of course dreaming of the victory as well.”

 

Roger Kluge sacrificed himself for the team and has shown incredible strength of character. Still suffering from flu-like symptoms before the start, the silver medalist in the omnium on the track in the recent world championships, spent more than 260 kilometers at the front of the race along with 10 other riders.  The maximum time advantage that the escapees enjoyed was over eleven minuets.

 

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Fernando Gaviria in tears: It was my own fault

Well-placed inside the final 500 meters, Fernando Gaviria crashed and missed out on the opportunity to fight for the win at the season's first Monument.

 

Etixx-QuickStep had lots of bad luck. At the foot of Cipressa, it was crashes galore, among those involved being Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEdge), Geraint Thomas (Team Sky), Alan Marangoni (Cannondale), Daniele Bennati (Tinkoff) and Julien Vermote. The 26-year-old Belgian sustained a deep wound in his left knee and was taken to the Sanremo hospital, where the medical staff took care of him and cleaned his wound. Tonight, he will go back to his home country, where on Sunday he'll undergo further examinations to determine the nature of his injury.

 

The last 500 meters were chaotic and tense, as almost all the riders coming into the run-in were ahead of their biggest victory to date. Etixx – Quick-Step had three men there: Gianluca Brambilla, Matteo Trentin and Fernando Gaviria. The Colombian neo-pro was well-placed for the sprint, but unfortunately he hit the deck and couldn't fight for victory.

 

Best placed Etixx – Quick-Step rider in Milan-Sanremo was Matteo Trentin, who came home in 10th place. Gaviria arrived a couple of minutes later, while Zdenek Stybar concluded the season's first Monument almost one quarter of an hour behind the winner, because he too was struck by bad luck on Saturday. The Czech, winner of a Tirreno-Adriatico stage last week, was on the Cipressa descent when he crashed because of a loose dog and although he climbed back on the bike, he couldn't return to the peloton.

 

Victorious in three races this season, the 21-year-old Fernando Gaviria experienced the toughest day of his pro career, one in which he came very close to a huge result, but was eventually left in tears. Despite the crash, which saw his effort come to an abrupt end, Gaviria was keen on taking the positive things out of this race:

 

"I am very sad for what happened. It was my fault, as I was in a perfect position, but then I lost my focus for two seconds, because I began thinking on how to sprint, and touched Van Avermaet's wheel. This was enough to throw away all the hard work of the team. I have mixed feelings: I missed an important opportunity, but on the other hand I am happy that I could cope with a 300-km long race and felt good throughout the day. It's not the crash that hurts, but the outcome, especially as I was thinking of this race since January.

 

 "I was unlucky twice,” Tom Boone said. “On the Cipressa they crashed in front of me, and I was in last position. That cost me a lot of energy. On the Poggio they crashed again uphill. That's because everyone was still fresh after a race that was not so difficult which increased the nervousness. Teammate Gaviria then also crashed on the Via Roma. It was not easy for us today. "

 

"Tactically, the team was flawless. We had three guys at the front in the final kilometers, and we could have had four, if not for Styby's crash. Brambilla was a key rider there, as was Matteo, who closed the gap twice, once on the Poggio and once when Cancellara attacked. We didn't get the result we were hoping for, but everyone could see that the team was strong and could adapt to all kind of situations. Fernando came really close to writting history today, and even though he didn't win, other opportunities will come for him, as he has a very bright future ahead", concluded sport director Davide Bramati.

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Peter Sagan in Sanremo

As the first Monument of the season, the racing at the 107th Milano-Sanremo was always going to be fast and frenetic. In a race that saw strong efforts from the team to deliver Peter Sagan to Sanremo, a crash a few hundred metres before the finish threw the World Champion off his line and saw him come in outside the top ten.

 

In a race like Milano-Sanremo, the outcome is never going to be certain. While the course was flat by the standards of other races, the fact that the race takes place over a 291km route means anything can happen – especially over the race’s final climbs, the Cipressa and the infamous Poggio, where riders will be on the edge of exhaustion. The longest one-day race in the world, ‘La Classicissima’ was made 4km longer after a mudslide forced the race’s organisers to divert the route.

 

As was expected, a breakaway formed early on, but in a race like Milano-Sanremo, the teams know how unlikely it is for a break to stick. 45km before the finish and just before the ascent of the Capo Berta, Tinkoff, who had already been controlling the race from its start, upped the pace to bring the break in, ultimately catching them on the Cipressa with 25km to go.

 

The breakaway caught, the big names started to attack, looking to create some ground on the peloton before the Poggio in the hope their attacks might stick. While the attacks came thick and fast, Tinkoff kept their heads and worked to bring their team leader to the top of the Poggio before starting the long downhill to the finish – a move that put Peter Sagan in the bunch for the final sprint. With just a few hundred metres remaining, a crash in front of Sagan forced him to deviate from his line as the bunch sprint started.

 

"As I have always said the Milano-Sanremo is unpredictable and that's why I find it futile to talk about my goals two-three days in advance.” said Peter Sagan after the race. “I did my best, the squad did a very good job but that's racing.”

 

Giving some insight into the last kilometres, Sagan continued. “When Fabian attacked, I said to the others that if we let him go, the Milano-Sanremo is over. I think I was the only one able to catch him and then we broke away with Boasson Hagen, Gaviria and then, I think, Trentin. With 400-500 meters to go, Gaviria turned to check upon the group that was coming from behind and fell. That was it. I barely avoided crashing myself but I lost so much speed that I was unable to catch up in the closing 300 metres. That's why, even if you are in excellent form, a race will never be easy."

 

Sport Director, Patxi Villa, had high hopes for the team after a strong performance during the earlier stages of the race.

 

“It’s a real shame, but we did everything that we could have done today. Until the first big crash everything was going well for us. We took control of the race from the beginning, with Manuele Boaro doing an amazing job, pulling for 240kms. Everything was under control.”

 

The team had been riding strongly throughout the day, protecting their leader and making sure he was where he needed to be. Vila continued.

 

“But then Daniele Bennati was involved in the crash. He was the guy who we had planned to bring the guys to Poggio, and then it was Roman Kreuziger and Oscar Gatto to go from there. But Roman had to take his place to the climb, leaving only Oscar for the Poggio.”

 

After the race, Oscar Gatto, who had played an important role in getting Sagan to the top of the Poggio, said:

 

"As I said a few days ago, victory is made of a number of components and luck is one of them. Unfortunately, this component is taking time to come. We will stay focused on the path we have been so far. The team is performing well and I'm convinced the results will come. The beautiful but unfortunate fact about the Milano-Sanremo is that it remains wide open. We are strong, Peter is strong but again we need a bit of luck. We will keep fighting and I think that before mid April we will get the result we look forward to."

 

Vila was quick to praise the team for their efforts throughout the race.

 

“They all did a fantastic job regardless, and at the end when Peter had to respond to the attacks he was in control. But after almost seven hours of racing you can lose everything in just 300m. When the crash at the end happened the sprint was opening up on the other side of the road and Peter’s chances were over. But I have to say that the guys did a fantastic job today. Everyone was 200% committed to executing the plan and doing what we had to do. Today we were unlucky.”