Gerald Ciolek’s Milan-San Remo victory was a triumphant first World Tour win for his MTN-Qhubeka team, and a welcome return to form for the German sprinter in dreadful conditions.
Even Ciolek’s manager would probably not have included him in the list of favourites for the first monument of 2013. This relative outsider status played in his favour, as he burst past hot favourites Peter Sagan (Cannondale) and Fabian Cancellara (Radioshack Leopard Trek) to win the sprint out of a seven-man breakaway.
It was a clever ride from Ciolek, a former Highroad teammate and lead out rider for Mark Cavendish and Andre Greipel. Now in his first season with Pro Continental outfit MTN-Qhubeka, winning one of cycling’s monuments fulfilled the promise he showed when winning a stage of the Vuelta in 2009.
Ciolek has had a difficult couple of years since playing a key role supporting Cavendish at Highroad (variously known as Columbia and HTC), following relatively unsuccessful stints at Milram and Quickstep.
Moving to a smaller team seems have paid off handsomely for him, with the elated Köln native praising the professionalism of the team’s management and coaching staff.
Ciolek’s surprise win aside, this was the strangest of races – a coach transfer in the middle of the race effectively splitting it into two relatively short stages.
Like a bunch of package tourists on holiday, the peloton bundled itself into team buses for a transfer past the Passo del Turchino, which was covered in a thin blanket of snow.
Rumours that Orica-GreenEDGE veteran Stuart O’Grady was offered a discounted fare were not able to be confirmed by The Roar.
The sight of top riders clambering off their bikes with helmets crusted in ice, shivering into their neck warmers and thick jackets, is a rare one in professional cycling. The sight of them coming out afterwards to continue racing is even rarer.
Nevertheless, this was a necessary decision taken by the race commissars, for the safety of riders. Europe’s wild run of cold weather continues to wreak havoc with the early season of racing, precipitating an equally ongoing debate about how bad conditions have to be before races are abandoned.
Generally, the tipping point seems to involve snow. The possibility of Eurosport’s winter sports commentary team being forced to abandon the biathlon world cup circuit to take up commentary of previously wheel-based races seems a bridge too far for the World Tour.
How much impact the extended break and transfer had on riders after the restart will remain up for debate, but there’s no doubt that a truncated parcours will have pleased many of the freezing classics men as they sipped warm coffee and probably changed into dry clothes at the halfway point.
Milan-San Remo is a long, hard race under optimal conditions. Under ice, snow, and frigid rain it was a miserable slog. Many riders elected to stay in the bus, including Tom Boonen, and even more dropped off before the race really warmed up.
In such conditions, it was no surprise to see celebrated strongmen Cancellara and Sagan at the head of events in the final kilometres, but the field was decimated by crashes and withdrawals, which is always a shame for fans and teams alike.
Pre-race favourites including Vincenzo Nibali, Thor Hushovd and Matt Goss were all forced to abandon as Team Sky drove the chase of the day’s long breakaway before the base of the day’s penultimate climb, the Cipressa.
The race was blown apart on the Cipressa, as Eddie Boasson Hagen, Andre Greipel, and defending champion Simon Gerrans were dropped following an attack from Sylvain Chavanel.
As the climb hit its straps, the impetus came from Lampre-Merida with Adriano Malori putting in a turn of pace at the head of the peloton that continued to bundle riders into the grupetto.
Indeed Ciolek briefly appeared to be struggling with the pace and was momentarily dropped, but managed to rejoin the lead group as the road flattened out, before too much damage had been done.
Philippe Gilbert’s attack on the descent of the Cipressa with 20km to go was unsuccessful, but predicted the winning break, as he was joined by Chavanel, Sagan, Cancellara, Ian Stannard (Sky), and Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto-Belisol).
A further attack from Stannard, Chavanel and Eduard Vorganoff (Katusha) was more successful, and the three were 25 seconds clear of the peloton at the base of the Poggio.
On the Poggio, Chavanel and Stannard battled against each other and the chasing pack, duelling out of the saddle in a magnificent display of courage which ultimately ruined their chances of a sprint victory.
Behind them, Luca Paolini’s (Katusha) attack was followed by Sagan, Cancellara, Pippo Pozzato (Lampre-Merida) and Ciolek. The expected surge from Cancellara came before the summit, wearing a Sagan-shaped shadow as reminiscent of Strade-Bianche two weeks ago.
As Sagan, Cancellara, Ciolek and Paolini caught Chavanel and Stannard on the descent, an enthralling arm-wrestle for control failed to split the group, as the British champion led out the sprint.
Ultimately, Ciolek rode the smartest race, taking advantage of the cat and mouse games played by Sagan and Cancellara, and the early attacks of Chavanel and Stannard, while saving his legs for when it counted.
Chavanel’s courageous fourth place was another strong performance for the Omega Pharma-Quickstep squad, backed up by Mark Cavendish’s ninth place.
Heinrich Haussler (IAM) was the best of the Australians in 13th, on a day that didn’t suit those more accustomed to warmer weather.
Fancy a wager on your favourite sport? Head on over to PlayUp for great odds and friendly customer service and pick a winner. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.
Australia's Jai Hindley has said he is "lost for words" after a shock stage victory at the Tour de France earned him the leader's…
Australia's Jai Hindley has said he is "lost for words" after a shock stage victory at the Tour de France earned him the leader's…
Tadej Pogacar has won a drama-packed Tour of Flanders, winning in a breakaway with Matieu van der Poel second, Mads Pedersen third and Wout…
Women are not allowed to compete in the Tour de France. However you choose to re-read that sentence, the fact remains: the most famous…
The jam-packed month-by-month quiz full of 2022 sports trivia!
Australian Grace Brown has won silver in the women's time trial, the first event at the world road cycling championships.
