2012 Milan San Remo

We were looking at the betting odds on Gerro last night and I think they were 10 to 1. He wasn’t even on our radar with all the other favorites in the race. I knew that he was still going well and that he’d have free rein to go with all the moves but it never entered my mind that he’d take the win. When I checked cyclingnews this morning at 6am I rushed around the house waking all my teammates up to tell them the great news! All of us huddled around this tiny iphone with a dodgy internet connection and watched the final 7.5km of the race. We were all fixated on the screen watching Gerro follow Nibali’s move up the Poggio (almost exactly the same spot as Fondriest attacked and won in 1993) and then lock on Cancellara’s wheel to the finish. When we saw Gerro come across the line with his arms in the air we all went bananas!

We had a race of our own this morning in Mansfield up to the top of Mt Buller. Simon Gerrans’ father, Allen Gerrans was in the lead car and I had the chance to have a quick chat to him before the race:

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Did you watch the race?

I had cyclingnews live updates on and I fell asleep after 200k’s, woke up at 4am and went back to look at the results and saw his name at the top of the results and thought that can’t be true so I had to look back again at the final 10 minutes of the race to make sure I was reading it right!

It’s a long way from Mt Buller to the Poggio. Did you expect that your son would be the winner of Milan San Remo last night?

I knew he was in good shape and I knew he was taking it serious. He had been over to that final climb and ridden it a few times, and went and had a look at the finish, so he knew what it was. You’re not going to be doing that unless you’re hoping to be up there at the end.

This summer he was home [in Mansfield] and did a block of training and I’ve never seen him work so hard at this time of year. Normally in January he’s wanting to be in good form in April, so he’s not going that hard in January. But this year the effort and training he did was just unbelievable. I said to him, “I’ve never seen you go this hard in January,” and he said “there’s a lot of pressure on the team and he wants to get some results”.

Do you know if the Ardennes are still a goal for Simon or was Milan San Remo what he was aiming for?

Amstel and Bastogne–Liège is still his aim for the year, there’s no doubt, so this is a bonus.

Did you see what Simon was capable of as a pro cyclist when he was growing up and riding these roads around Jamieson and Mansfield?

No, no, not at all. He didn’t start until he was 15 or 16, so he didn’t have much of a career at that point. It’s a good place to ride around here.

Do you ride yourself?

I ride with my local club. I started when he started. He started with a crook knee at the time and he’d go out on the road and I go with him to keep an eye on him and he eventually started to leave me behind.

Have you spoken to Gerro yet?

Yes, I spoke to him on the phone this morning. He can’t believe what just happened! (laughs)

And here’s what Gerro had to say (via media release):

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“I still haven’t realised what we actually did today,” said Gerrans.

“This is an amazing feeling to win this monument. The team rode perfectly, and we played our cards just the right way.”

“It doesn’t get any better than this. This is going to take a long, long time to sink in.”

“I’m still stunned; it’s been the perfect start to the year for me and for the team,” Gerrans went on to say from a team dinner after the race.

“And it’s great that the trophy remains in Australia after Matt Goss’ win last year.

“Gossy was the team leader today and my role was to follow the attacks in the final. Today was one of the rare occasions in the Milano-San Remo where a break that formed on the Poggio survived until the finish.

“I’m thrilled to be able to finish it off and take the biggest win of my career.”

Executing the strategy to perfection, Gerrans knew he would need something special in the final sprint to the line.

“I did what I could for the breakaway but knowing how strong Fabian is, I kept some energy in reserve for the sprint,” Gerrans said.

“I knew if Cancellara was there, we would make it to the finish. But Nibali was also there, so I had to be careful of him too.

“Then it was all a question of making my last acceleration at exactly the right moment.”

It’s been a fantastic start for Gerro and therefore GreenEDGE, but my question is; Who is going to continue winning for them once Gerro begins to come down from form? He can’t hold it for much longer and the Ardennes are still a month away. There’s lots of firepower on GreenEDGE and some great workhorses, but winners? All bets are on Gossy and Gerro.

Photo Gallery

Last 7.5km (La Gazzetta, Italian)

Last 40km (English) 

See part 1 (0-80km) and part 2 (80km-240km)

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