Yeah but it’s such a tough finish that no-one wants to waste themselves to bring it back then be dropped on the final climb. They’re kind of racing for 2nd place now but it’s still in the balance.

they must’ve been able to see him at points there. Nobody would’ve even have to bury themselves if they’d just kept cooperating a little longer. It’s done now though, not coming back unless Pidcock explodes

Shame MVdP isn’t on it though

he looks a tad tired 😀

had to go out so had it on pause, just caught up with the last 10km. Fabulous ride, and so glad my earlier prediction was proved wrong (or, was it weird reverse psychology?)

https://twitter.com/INEOSGrenadiers/status/1632100595417980937?t=gO-7UFUj13T3WBc8DYZUnA&s=19

Some pics from the Ineos twitter feed.

Paris-Nice starts tomorrow then the next Classic is Milan-SanRemo on 18th!

Really great peice on the mens race by Kate Wagner of Derailleur:

https://derailleur.substack.com/p/pale-grit?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

She points out that Pidcock didn’t just win cos of second group syndrome – he really had to dig for every advantage to keep the chasers at bay.

Good race.  Not enough “wild” horsey action though – I think that could catch on as a feature

She points out that Pidcock didn’t just win cos of second group syndrome

Being in a group has it’s pluses and minuses – Tom didn’t have anyone with him to waste time manoeuvring, but he also didn’t have anyone with him to share the work. He won. Says so in the paper.

p.s. I’d love to have heard what was said in the Jumbo-Visma bus on the way home!!

bet the atmosphere in the jumbo visma team bus was frosty 🙂 snap on the edit

p.s. I’d love to have heard what was said in the Jumbo-Visma bus on the way home!!

I want to know what was said on the SD Worx team bus!
Lotte Kopecky and Demi Vollering were racing it right to the line – almost like each had reneged on the thought of gifting the win to the other. Would be fascinating to know if there were team orders like “Kopecky is the team leader, she gets it” or “Kopecky won last year, help Vollering to the win”.
And Vollering was either very understated or still really annoyed in her first post-race interview…

Wonder if Vollering was more annoyed at Faulkner seeming to block her (twice?) on the final climb?

I would have thought the sensible team instruction would be “if two of you come to the line together and there’s no chance of you being caught them it doesn’t matter who wins, it’s up to you”.

unfortunately pidders will be marked man @ flanders now along with WvA & MvdP though after yesterdays performance he has to fancy his chances!

25km of frantic racing @ Paris Nice. fascinating pre tour “who’s the boss” going on between visma & uae

wow!

25km of frantic racing @ Paris Nice. fascinating pre tour “who’s the boss” going on between visma & uae

wow!

Yep, full gas racing throughout, great stage.
That’s on for a week and Tirreno-Adriatico starts tomorrow, featuring a certain Mr T Pidcock.

Cav is also supposed to be riding although it’s interesting to note that his leadout man Cees Bol is at Paris-Nice.

Both finish next weekend then it’s back to the one-day races on 18th March with Milan-San Remo.

Think I’ll start a separate thread for the stage races. Too scared to click on this thread in case there’s any P-N spoilers (which there weren’t yet thanks to @Klunk’s careful wording).

Does Strade Bianche count? I know it’s not officially a spring classic but it does get the main classics riders entering. Watched the highlights last night and thought it was a good race.

Tom Pidcock won’t be racing Milan-San Remo as he’s being rested in a concussion protocol. https://t.co/WNLrzFIfQs

— Cyclist (@cyclist) March 15, 2023

Guess we don’t get to see Pidcock descending the Poggio then…

Pidcock must be gutted.

Nokere Koerse is on today. Just had a little cry watching the finale of the womens race.

Yep, absolute respect to Lotte Kopecky.

I see Kristen Faulkner’s DSQ for having a glucose monitoring thing was upheld. Seems harsh but I don’t see what else they could do. I like to see Cecilie Ludvig on the podium, but not like this!

It was pretty stupid of her though, I only follow whatever road cycling news I can get for free, but even I knew they had been banned and spotted it under her sleeve on the race footage as soon as I switched on.

Enjoying the Grand Prix de Denain footage, some beautiful cobbles and comedy crashes! 😁

Brian Smith can be a humourless bugger at times but went off on a very interesting rant about BC’s prohibitive standards for races on UK soil vs. what gets held on the continent.

There’s been some cracking racing this week. Almost sad to see a big rich team like UAE win at Denain today though – I feel like is should be someone from a french pro conti team crossing the line first.

Anyway, it’s Milan San( )Remo on Saturday. Who else will be sitting their whole family down and forcing them to watch the whole race* from km0?

*one toilet break allowed, obvs

Depeneds on the weather.. if it’s dry i’ll be riding till 12ish. Then sitting down with a beer.

comedy crashes! 😁

At least it finally paid off for AG2R to wear brown kit !!

TBH I am slightly relieved Pidcock is out of San Remo. Not sure my nerves could cope with him attacking down the Poggio

YEah i don’t think it’ll come to that anyway as i see Pog going for it before that and hanging on.

I’d like to see VdP and WvA going 40km out as i think that’s their best chance, maybe someone like a Wellens in there too for support for them. Dunno if Laporte is there for WvA but that would help him too.

I don’t see it coming down to a sprint though so your Cav etc won’t be there, possibly only Ewan can hold the climb bunch.

I just don’t see that the climbs towards the end are hard enough for Pog to dislodge the others. He went several times on the Cipressa and Poggio last year but couldn’t shake Ganna for example. It’ll be more of a Pedersen, Asgreen, Turgis type rider i.e. who ever has the legs to manage a decent sprint or last minute dig off the Poggio.

Pogačar is on fine form indeed, but I imagine a small group going off from the Poggio; Alaphilippe for the win.

i see Pog going for it before that and hanging on.

He will have to pressing on the Cipressa and go full beans on Poggio, even then it will be a big ask to drop the likes of WVA and MvDP if they are on peak form. Remember he couldn’t drop MVdP at Flanders last year and whilst they are shorter climbs there’s a bloody load of them.

I really hope Pogacar doesn’t just dominate everything – it’ll be really dull if he does.

Brian Smith can be a humourless bugger at times but went off on a very interesting rant about BC’s prohibitive standards for races on UK soil vs. what gets held on the continent.

What was the nasal bore saying this time?

Tailwind for the last part of the day tomorrow, which makes an early attack seem less doomed. Could this be a year for a successful Cipressa attack?

Here’s a bookmark for a useful live tracker tomorrow:

https://www.ismilansanremoexcitingyet.com/

Could this be a year for a successful Cipressa attack?

No.

Ok. Attack on the turchino then.

I’m settling in for the first hour, after that it’s going to have to be watching the last 90 mins or so live when back from MTB

It’s a long long way

Pog’s managed to have an off the bike in the neutral zone already. This could be full of drama today. Or it could be 270km of build-up.

anybody else on GCN racepass ?
Unwatchable for me currently (freezing all the time, rather than just really boring)

What was the nasal bore saying this time?

Just pointing out that BC wouldn’t sanction high level pro races in the UK on narrow/twisting roads, but that every spring we’re all glued to our screens watching continental equivalents.

He was bemoaning BC being too risk averse/unimaginative.

Back from my ride just in time for the last 100km…
Have I missed anything?

😉

Is there a website with a graphic showing where they are on the course? It’s really stupid that GCN don’t ever show such a thing.

EDIT https://www.milanosanremo.it/en/live/

Obviously 🙁