Some things would possibly have been repositioned before Milan-Sanremo this year: the route, the length of the groups and, more importantly, his position on the calendar due to the coronavirus pandemic, but a constant remains: he will be a cyclist of the highest quality who wins on Via Roma on Saturday afternoon.
The warmer weather expected, compared to the general March strip of the race, and the more open squad than the same as always due to a number of famous cyclists who want to do canopy the kilometers before the Tour de France rescheduled at the end of the month will give some other sensation to things, however, we have known the maximum of 10 riders who will probably participate in the first Monument of the relaunched season 2020 relaunched this week.
Have we reached the exhibition phase of Peter Sagan’s program, where cyclists’ functionality is replaced through media opportunities and social media campaigns as brands seek to recover the latest drops of fame from a cyclist who has redefined what it means to be a cycling star? ? Let’s hope that Italy’s spin race is tied to natural finances, and that the three-time world champion still has the momentum, legs and courage to remind everyone that his day can be an untouchable Obliger.
Milan-San Remo has been anxious that Sagan has never been satisfied, and his form is still somewhere between warm and toasted, but if he can sizzle in Sanremo, this may be one of his most productive victories. After all, with the convention in Bora on Nils Politt and the post-Sagan future, it would be glorious for the 30-year-old to remember all the skeptics how smart he always is.
Julian Alaphilippe used his press convention on Thursday to minimize his chances of victory, but it will take more than a recalled Zoom call and mechanically hampered functionality in Strade Bianche to remove the Frenchman from our list. It is the elegance and garbo personified, while his Deceuninck team is possibly the ultimate unit of the race.
With Sam Bennett in a position for the sprint, they have 4 possible cards to play, assuming Tim Declercq makes the most of the draws from the start, with Alaphilippe as the protective champion and the maximum probably man. No one can forget that the last few weeks have been difficult for French from a non-public point of view after his father’s death, but if he queues up to start preparing physically and mentally, there will be few. riders who can prevent it.
The relief in the number of runners in groups of 8 to six shows how strong the U.S. team has become. In recent years in the Classics. Sep Vanmarcke and Sebastian Langeveld climb metal and experience, while Michael Woods and Alberto Bettiol bring the delicacy that separates the very intelligent from the excellent. Vanmarcke was not joking when he told Cyclingnews in December that it was the most powerful Slipstream Classics team he had run for, and that it included the 2011 ‘Galacticos’ team from Hushovd and Haussler.
It is Bettiol, however, who results in a position for Sanremo’s good fortune. The fourth in Strade Bianche illustrated his condition, and given the rare cases surrounding this season, it is simple that his most productive career in Sanremo was 36 in 2019. He’s a guy who can now go smoothly with two monuments. in the area for only a few months, and, at 26, become the biggest star of Italian sport.
The 35-year-old made a ferocious demonstration at Strade Bianche last weekend to save the 10 most sensible, then climbed with the third position in Grand Lombard Trittico to pretend that even if the form is not exceptional, it is still on the approximate Right. In fact, the Olympic road champion is not a five-star favorite for Milan-Sanremo, however, the magnitude of his team’s victory can have great ramifications. Victory can provide great seasoning to control, as it seeks to recruit a new sponsor and avoid attempts through the Manuela Foundation that would cancel out all difficult paintings of those beyond two years.
The deal may be inevitable, and Golden Greg has already gone for AG2R, as the press says, but winning Sanremo can be the catalyst to revive a team that unfortunately lacks time to retain its identity. The Belgian’s career record is nothing special, with its most productive effects, the fifth, returning in 2016. That shouldn’t rule it out this time given the season we’ve had, and with Matteo Trentin also on the team, CCC has two options.
Lotto Soudal has two cards to play in Milan-Sanremo with Philippe Gilbert and Caleb Ewan on his list, but the scales slowly tilt in favor of the Belgian. The most complicated course, the smaller groups and the unpredictability of the race at almost three hundred km without much retrospective in the race suit a cunning old fox like Gilbert.
It also has that other intangible thing in its favor: fate. After all, the 38-year-old aims to join an elite club of runners who have won all five monuments, and even though we’ve noticed few symptoms of form since the resumption of races, only an idiot would write the modeler. world champion. Equation. You can believe that it has been all waking hours since last winter preparing for Sanremo, and even with the new date, direction and alignment limits, you will be ready.
It turns out that we only appreciate Vincenzo Nibali’s skill when he wins a life race, however, in the coming years, the game hopes that the game will recognize him as one of the top runners of the post-war war period. In many ways, it’s a step back for a generation of cyclists who have coupled the cobblestones with the capi and mountains with the monuments to leave a brilliant record separating him from most of his Grand Tour teammates.
Nibali’s finale in fifth place at the Great Lombard Trittico before this week proved it may be a factor, while his delight and eye for the right time to attack make him a formidable force for Saturday. His team is forged and committed to a goal, while the more complicated course and prospective warmth also lend themselves to a runner rather than to handle in an old-fashioned fight.
We may have selected several UAE drivers for this slot machine, with Fernando Gaviria, Tadej Pogacar and Alexander Kristoff, all true contenders. Kristoff hasn’t run since March, Pogacar aims to succeed at its peak at a later date, and situations and small groups are gently pulling the canvas under Gaviria’s feet, despite his recent impressive form, leaving Formolo as the boy of the moment.
Interestingly, he has never raced in Milan-Sanremo, but his position at the moment in Liege-Bastogne-Liege last year, and his moment position at Strade Bianche last weekend, demonstrate his developing stature at the level for a day. At 27, Formolo is approaching its peak, and there is a sense in Italy that bora and Cannondale’s former driving force is about to fulfill the original promise advised throughout his career.
The winner of Strade Bianche and a safe favorite for Milan-Sanremo. In this week’s Cyclingnews podcast, we discussed whether the Belgian is lately the world’s greatest full rider and his time-fighting skills in sprints and mountains are sure to make him a smart business. He was Strade Bianche’s most powerful and intelligent and came out with a deserved victory, and he’s a man who scored Saturday, has enough versatility to make sure he’s in the final contest.
The 2017 winner will be there around Saturday, as his form has improved since the departures at Strade Bianche and Grand Lombard Trittico. He knows how to win Sanremo, after winning in 2017, and he was also close last year, but it’s his full game that puts him on our list. He deserves to be able to remain the most productive in the last climbs, and his race remains quite smart after almost three hundred km above the saddle.
It is ruthless to set aside a driving force like Ag2R Oliver Naesen last year who has all the skills to do better, but Van der Poel is a driving force that values observation. The effects have not yet been right this year, however, it is a driving force that can turn on the post-burners at the push of a switch. Like Naesen, he has the strength and delicacy to fit the most productive riders on the climbs, and has already shown that running the distance in 300km races is not a problem, if he excludes the race en route to last year’s World Championship.
His team is not WorldTour, a Dutchman has not won in Sanremo since Hennie Kuiper in 1985, and has only raced two more sensible road races in Italy throughout his career, any of which came in the last. six days, but driver Alpecin is a special talent, and next Saturday he’ll leave it all on the road. Where that leaves it, we’ll have to see it.
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