Cycling: The first monument of the season takes place on Saturday with Milan – Sanremo. Unfortunately, John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin) cannot defend his victory from last year due to injury and André Greipel also has to sit out with persistent pain after a broken rib. But we can still expect an exciting race with an uncertain outcome.
Milan – Sanremo 2016: Route – The decision will be made at Poggio
The Cipressa and the Poggio, the last two climbs at the end of Milan - Sanremo are almost traditionally the focus when experts talk in advance about the outcome of the first monument of the season. In the last two editions of La Primavera, the very last climb, the Poggio, has emerged as the "hill of decision". Will it be the same this year?
At the foot of the Cipressa, the penultimate climb of the race, the riders have already covered more than 250km and have been on the bike for five or six hours. They are tired, their energy reserves are running out and almost certainly they would give a lot for a cool can of coke. In addition, the participants at Milan - Sanremo can often expect really bad weather, heavy rain and snow are by no means uncommon. In 2013, the RCS Sports organizers were even forced to skip the Passo del Turchino, which was submerged in arctic conditions.
But even without snowstorms, the race is tough enough: almost 300km, usually at an average speed of over 43km/h. After all, it is mostly flat - it is not for nothing that it is also called the "sprinter classic". Yes, don't get us wrong: the track is by no means flat as a pancake. There are some tough climbs - the fact that these only wait in the last 50 kilometers doesn't necessarily make things any more pleasant. In this phase of the race, the short, crisp uphill passages cost an incredible amount of grain and you need an iron will to survive here.
After saying goodbye to Le Manie, the Cipressa and the Poggio stand out as the two biggest challenges. The Cipressa is longer and more demanding, but the decision is usually made afterwards, on the shorter Poggio. In the last two years the decision came even later, on the Poggio descent, where John Degenkolb and Alexander Kristoff placed themselves in respective positions for the Via Roma triumph.
On paper, the descent isn't really anything special: it's not particularly steep, there aren't any major technical difficulties or hard switchbacks. But that's exactly where the big challenge and the flavor of this descent lies. Ultimately, it means for the drivers that after almost 300km they have to go full throttle and concentrate again. The simple layout of the road gives the participants a false sense of security and tempts them to lose concentration: like last year, when Philippe Gilbert, Michal Kwiatkowski, Zdenek Stybar and Gerald Ciolek all fell on this descent.
The formula for success seems to be to be in a good position at the top of the Poggio and to keep your nerve on the descent, but without having to take all the risks.
Milan – Sanremo 2016: starters and favourites
Favorites
Michael Matthews (Orica GreenEDGE)
Australia's Michael Matthews is undoubtedly one of the top favorites this year. The Orica professional dominated the first stages at Paris-Nice and stayed at the top of the overall standings until the king's stage on the penultimate day. Last year, the 25-year-old had to admit defeat to John Degenkolb and Alexander Kristoff on the Via Roma, but since then he has primarily matured tactically and will certainly play a decisive role in the finish.
Alexander Kristoff (Katusha)
Alexander Kristoff traditionally had an extremely strong start to the season. The Norwegian dominated in Qatar and Oman and was only beaten by Jasper Stuyven in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. In 2014 he already showed that he knows how to win La Classicissima and last year he just failed to defend his title. However, one factor could be the absence of Luca Paolini - the Italian had worked a lot for Kristoff over the past two years.
Fabian Cancellara (Trek Segafredo)
Fabian Cancellara is one of four former winners at the start (alongside Alexander Kristoff, Mark Cavendish and Filippo Pozzato) and showed not least with his impressive victory at the Strade Bianche that he does not want to give away his last season as a professional. On the contrary: the Swiss veteran stressed that he wanted to say goodbye with a bang. A second win at Milan – San Remo would no doubt be such a 'bang' – but Spartacus needs to have the tactics ready as he is likely to lose out in the sprint against strong competition.
Peter SaganTinkoff
Unbelievable but true: road world champion Peter Sagan is still waiting for his first win of the season. It seems almost tragic that the Slovak had to cope with two second places again this season: Most recently he missed the overall victory at Tirreno-Adriatico by one second behind Greg van Avermaet (BMC). But La Classicissima is actually made for the tough Tinkoff pro - maybe after four top 10 placements in recent years it will work out this time with a triumph on the Via Roma.
Milan – Sanremo 2016: TV broadcast and live stream
Now it's time for German cycling fans to "be strong" - because there will be no live pictures from Milan - Sanremo on German television. Eurosport also does without a broadcast from Italy on both of its channels and instead fills its program with winter sports - a great pity. At least a 60-minute recording can be seen in the evening.
Things aren't much better on the internet either when it comes to live streams. Cycling fans could possibly get their luck on the portal cyclingfans.com try.
Milan – Sanremo on Eurosport:
Recording (60 min): Saturday, March 19.03.2016, 19, 15:20 p.m. – 15:XNUMX p.m