[smug]

Mark Cavendish
3 5/2 10/3 10/3 3 10/3 3 3 16-19

Peter Sagan
11/2 6 13/2 5 13/2 7 7 13/2 11-14

Edvald Boasson Hagen
14 12 14 14 12 12 12 12 8-11

Philippe Gilbert
14 12 12 10 12 5 12 12 9-12

Andre Greipel
14 14 16 14 14 14 14 14 4-6

Fabian Cancellara
11/2 7 10 8 8 16 6 8 5-7

Matt Goss
17 16 14 17 12 7 10 12 5-7

Oscar Freire
14 14 18 14 12 18 14 4-6

Tom Boonen
14 14 16 15 18 14 14 16 6-8

Heinrich Haussler
25 22 25 25 22 18 20 25 2-4

Thor Hushovd
25 25 20 25 25 14 20 20 4-6

Tyler Farrar
28 25 25 25 25 18 20 25 2-4

Juan Jose Haedo
33

Alessandro Petacchi
22 25 33 40 33 20 20 25 2-4

Matti Breschel
40 25 25 33 25 20 33 2-4

Greg Van Avermaet
33 33 40 40 40 50 40 1-3

Marc Renshaw
50 40 50 33 1-3

Danielle Bennati
33 28 50 33 25 25 20 33 2-4

Marcel Kittel
50 40 40 50 50 25 30 40 2-4

Daniel Oss
50 40 25

Elia Viviani
50 40 50 50 40 25 50

Oscar Gatto
50 40 40 33

John Degenkolb
50 50 66 66 25 50 30 40 1-3

Jose Joaquin Rojas
33 33 66 50 40 33 33 2-4

Alejandro Valverde
66 50 66 66

[Burkni]

Nice stuff smug. Who is your pick?

[VdB]

Burkni, on 13 March 2012 - 05:10 PM, said:

Nice stuff smug. Who is your pick?

I'm going with Cav. He's been keeping under the radar (even letting EBH take a win in the Tirreno) and if I learned one thing about him these last few years, it's that when he sets his sights on a goal he's gonna achieve it or come really close. And winning the classic that should suit him the best in the rainbow jersey is definitely one of those!

Apart from him, Sagan and Boonen have been going really well. And Freire is said to have been working like a maniac behind the scenes...imagine that!

[Burkni]

Cav from Freire.

[smug]

vino's not starting so i guess i'll go with freire

[Strategy]

I'd go with Cavendish as well. No question that this is a monument he wants more than any other.

[VdB]

For those looking for a stream, here is the sporza one:

http://live.sporza.b...anremo/1.490916

It tends to work for people outside of Belgium so hope it still does!

[VdB]

And that's the end of Cav already...he must be sick or something, because this is a little early to drop.

[VdB]

Super exciting last 20 kms! Gerrans so cool...and Cancellara not really riding very smart, doing everything on his own. It's a crappy situation to be in with a guy like Gerrans on his wheel and a bunch of fast guys breathing down your neck, but playing a little poker would have been good.

[Burkni]

Canc drags another adversary to a hollow victory but Boonen hits the deck BADLY

Looks like the end of his classics campaign.

[VdB]

Burkni, on 17 March 2012 - 04:10 PM, said:

Canc drags another adversary to a hollow victory but Boonen hits the deck BADLY

Looks like the end of his classics campaign.

Was that Boonen? It did look really bad...

[Strategy]

Has Cancellara really lost a couple of brain cells since moving to Leopard-Trek/Radioshack? I don't recall him doing quite these many stupid raids with strong riders on his wheel in the past, but perhaps I'm just suffering from a case of selective memory. Seriously - he has already won this race - he should not be riding for second or third.

Great win by Gerrans.

[Burkni]

VdB, on 17 March 2012 - 04:11 PM, said:

Was that Boonen? It did look really bad...

No sorry, it was Trentin.

Strategy, on 17 March 2012 - 06:31 PM, said:

Has Cancellara really lost a couple of brain cells since moving to Leopard-Trek/Radioshack? I don't recall him doing quite these many stupid raids with strong riders on his wheel in the past, but perhaps I'm just suffering from a case of selective memory. Seriously - he has already won this race - he should not be riding for second or third.

Great win by Gerrans.

I had the idea that for some reason, Radioshack really wants the WT points. Don't really see any other explanation.
He didn't let up for one meter after he took the lead, I'm pretty sure that even if Gerro or Nibali had wanted to take the lead, they couldn't have.

I'll give him (Canc) one thing though: He did leave it to the very top of the Poggio, knowing that he would have to make the split on the downhill and flat. Previously I think he has put in less sensible attacks.

This post has been edited by Burkni: 17 March 2012 - 09:14 PM

[Strategy]

Hmm. Doesn't Cancellara's contract expire after this season? If so, I doubt that he'll be hanging around on Radioshack for any longer than absolutely necessary (and thus they won't gain the benefit of the WT points). There are lots of other teams that will gladly sign him, where he won't have to ride in the Schleck's service during the Tour.

Will be very, very interesting to see this year's cobbled classics. Last year was a bit of a wash, so he should be on schedule to absolutely hammer the opposition on the cobbles this year - and he still has the opportunities to maintain his record of grabbing at least one monument on even years.

[micomico]

Strategy, on 17 March 2012 - 06:31 PM, said:

Has Cancellara really lost a couple of brain cells since moving to Leopard-Trek/Radioshack? I don't recall him doing quite these many stupid raids with strong riders on his wheel in the past, but perhaps I'm just suffering from a case of selective memory. Seriously - he has already won this race - he should not be riding for second or third.

Great win by Gerrans.

-reminds me of Canc being the strongest rider in one the road world championships and losing it with his strategy. pretty much the same thing.

He said he didn't know how the break was doing; Gerrans said that he was comfortable that the break was not coming back, that Canc was by far the strongest, but that you have to use your head as well to win races.

I am surprised that under the team leadership of JB, he kept making the same type of mistake; thought this type of legs-only approach would have been covered beforehand.

Cancellara can win races with his legs, and lose them with his brain.

[smug]

No one will work with him, and one moment of game playing on the run in will sink the move. He's guaranteed podium if the move works with a good shot at the win. If he waits for help that probably will not come, he's nowhere. I think canc did the right thing, just didn't work out

This post has been edited by smug: 19 March 2012 - 01:28 PM

[Strategy]

micomico, on 18 March 2012 - 04:34 PM, said:

-reminds me of Canc being the strongest rider in one the road world championships and losing it with his strategy. pretty much the same thing.

True that.

As for no one working with him, I think part of the reason for this being the case is that everyone knows he will just keep pulling on his own with or without their help. It's weird reading him commenting that he knew Nibali would not work, since he had Sagan in the group behind. Well... Cancellara had Bennatti in the same group. I would agree with smug if he had been on his own, but in the circumstances - unless he'd had word that Bennatti was not riding well - I'm not sure I agree.

But of course, it is always easier to see these things from the comfiness of a couch.

[Burkni]

micomico, on 18 March 2012 - 04:34 PM, said:

-reminds me of Canc being the strongest rider in one the road world championships and losing it with his strategy. pretty much the same thing.

2009 WChamps
2011 MSR
2011 RVV
2011 PR
2012 MSR

That is becoming an eerily prestigious list of races where he has been without question the strongest but beaten to the victory. He said himself something along the lines of " ... if I hadn't been so strong, I would have won alone." after the Mendrisio race.
As more and more races are added to the list above, this quote makes more and more sense.

smug, on 18 March 2012 - 07:29 PM, said:

No one will work with him, and one moment of game playing on the run in will sink the move. He's guaranteed podium if the move works with a good shot at the win. If he waits for help that probably will not come, he's nowhere. I think canc did the right thing, just didn't work out

Canc himself said that Gerro took a couple of pulls. As soon as Gerro hit the front, the gap started coming down. I truly think that Gerro put in honest pulls, but that his strength is simply nowhere near that of the Swiss Bear. Reviewing the last decade of San Remo reveals that no one has been able to pull the race apart except for Cancellara and Paolini/Bettini in 2003.

[micomico]

Burkni, on 19 March 2012 - 03:36 PM, said:

That is becoming an eerily prestigious list of races where he has been without question the strongest but beaten to the victory. He said himself something along the lines of " ... if I hadn't been so strong, I would have won alone." after the Mendrisio race.
As more and more races are added to the list above, this quote makes more and more sense.


\

For the sake of discussion, I don't have a ready answer, what would you do if you were JB and had Canc on your team, how would you advise him? What would you do differently strategy-wise, if you were Canc? Open to the forum for insights.

Canc is one of my favorite riders, perhaps my favorite now that Ale-jet is getting a bit long in the tooth; I like to see the best rider take it, but know that the beauty of this sport is that it is mobile aerobic chess at its finest.

[Mark]

Burkni, on 19 March 2012 - 03:36 PM, said:

2009 WChamps
2011 MSR
2011 RVV
2011 PR
2012 MSR

That is becoming an eerily prestigious list of races where he has been without question the strongest but beaten to the victory. He said himself something along the lines of " ... if I hadn't been so strong, I would have won alone." after the Mendrisio race.
As more and more races are added to the list above, this quote makes more and more sense.

Canc himself said that Gerro took a couple of pulls. As soon as Gerro hit the front, the gap started coming down. I truly think that Gerro put in honest pulls, but that his strength is simply nowhere near that of the Swiss Bear. Reviewing the last decade of San Remo reveals that no one has been able to pull the race apart except for Cancellara and Paolini/Bettini in 2003.

Cancellara is my favorite rider, so I'm especially curious as to how the cobbled classics are going to pan out if the pattern of the last four monuments he's featured in continues. Like many have said, he's clearly the strongest in these races, but now has four straight podiums without a win. As much as I hate to admit it, I think his strength has gone a bit to his head and he needs to relearn that the best way for him to win is alone. He can power away from anybody, but if he continues to drag other riders with him, I'm afraid that top step will continue to belong to somebody else.

When he unleashes hell, he needs to ensure that nobody can hold his wheel; he also needs to do it from a realistic distance. His attack in Flanders last year was from way too far out and it ended up biting him. It's a testament to his amazing strength that he was able to come back and instigate the attack that formed the winning break and end up on the podium.

A few other random thoughts about the race:

Gerrans rode a clever race, going with the winning move and being able to stay in touch with the Cancellara Express when it left the station. Plenty have griped about him not taking enough pulls, but that's racing. First across the line wins...the rest is just details.

Gotta give props to Nibali. Winning the overall at Tirreno-Adriatico, then podiuming at MSR is a helluva week + of racing.

Cavendish's performance is a complete mystery. Before the race, he looked lean and was talking the talk. But getting ejected on what barely counts as a climb that far from the finish in a race you've won before? Strange. Of course, he's one who tends to take negative criticism and turn it into victory, so we'll likely see him crossing the line first soon.

I'm far from a fan of Pozzato, but I'm glad to see him apparently in good form. His high finish in this race suggests that his quick detour with a broken collarbone hasn't disrupted his training too much. As a usual contender in the cobbled classics, I say: the more strong riders, the better. That'll make the races harder and more entertaining for us fans.

Gilbert - even with the vagueness around his condition before the race, I thought Gilbert looked strong and ready to be among those contesting the win. His crash took him out at the worst time of the race and chasing back on was nigh impossible. But it's a long season and he's got much to do yet...

Same for Boonen, who by all accounts appears to be the crazy strong rider of 3-4 years ago. He should have this race in his palmares and getting caught behind a crash at the finale is a disappointment. There's always next year... Meanwhile, the cobbled classics await; we should witness some great battles between him and the Swiss Bear.

Hoogerland - he's far from the craftiest rider, but the man has guts like few others. His attacks rarely work, but he tries. Over and over.

Last and certainly not least, are Sagan and Degenkolb. Pro riders, commentators, and fans alike agree that it takes a number of years in the pro peloton to build up the kind of engine that enables a rider to be able to compete and win at the distances the classics are. Witness the comments about Lars Boom and Paris-Robauix - he should be a contender for the win in a few years, right? Sagan and Degenkolb showed that they're ready for the big time NOW with fourth and fifth place.