Could Peter Sagan be a surprise winner at MSR?
(Pic: Liquigas-Cannondale)
The traditional route to
winning Milan-San Remo (MSR) is to first ride Tirreno-Adriatico (T-A), the
week-long stage race that cuts across the centre of Italy from coast to coast.
Ride in Italy now to win later in Italy, or so the thinking goes, particularly
with T-A typically featuring long stages that are perfect preparation for the
298 kms of MSR.
The winners of MSR in
2010, 2009 and 2008 - Oscar Freire, Mark Cavendish and Fabian Cancellara - all
rode T-A as their preparation. Matt Goss turned conventional wisdom on its head
in 2011 by first riding Paris-Nice (P-N). Also a week-long stage race, P-N has
typically been targeted as an early-season outing for the riders who will ride
the grand tours later on, rather than the spring classics.
Heinrich Haussler almost
beat Goss to up-ending tradition when he came within a tyre's width of winning
MSR in 2009, only to lose to Cavendish. Haussler has stated how desperately he
wants to win MSR. Will 2012 be his year? If it is, he might be really changing
conventional thinking as he will have ridden P-N for four years in a row,
including 2012 when he lines up with other fast men like Thor Hushovd, Tom
Boonen, Mark Renshaw and Elia Viviani.
But what of the other favourites? Goss, Freire, Cavendish and Cancellara
will all be lining up at T-A, which starts March 7. And so are other contenders
like Philippe Gilbert, Tyler Farrar, Peter Sagan, Daniele Bennati and Andre
Greipel - not to mention BC's own Svein Tuft. P-N starts March 4 and MSR is on
March 17.
Guy
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