2013 Milan-San Remo Results

Heavy snow in the lead-up to the race saw the climb and descent of the Passo del Turchino removed from the course, with riders being ferried across the unsafe section by team bus. The nearly-5km-long “Le Manie” climb was also removed with riders skipping the climb on their way along the coast.

A breakaway group of six riders — Matteo Montaguti (AG2R La Mondiale), Diego Rosa (Androni), Filippo Fortin (Bardiani Valvole – CSF Inox), Maxim Belkov (Katusha), Lars Bak (Lotto) and Pablo Lastras (Movistar) — got away in the opening kilometres of the race and at one point had a gap in excess of 12 minutes over the peloton. But when Cannondale started to ride for Peter Sagan at the front of the main field, the gap started to come down and the breakaway went into the bus transfer in the town of Ovada (after 117km of racing) with a lead of 7 minutes and 10 seconds.

When the race restarted a few hours later in the town of Cogoleto, the lead was still 7 minutes and 10 seconds but with 130km left to race, Cannondale went straight to the front and continued their job of bringing back the breakaway.

As the peloton chased the leaders along the Mediterranean coast in virtually endless rain, the weather and the increased pace took their toll, with many riders — including Matthew Goss, Tom Boonen and, later, Vincenzo Nibali — abandoning the race.

Fortin was dropped from the breakaway with roughly 70km to go, and when the remaining five leaders hit the Capo Berta — with 41km remaining — Lastras and Montaguti were spat out the back, leaving just Bak, Belkov and Rosa clinging to an advantage of just 1 minute over a Sky-led peloton.

The three leaders were finally swept up by the peloton with 30km remaining in the race, and just a few kilometres before the decisive Cipressa climb. When the bunch hit that particular climb — the penultimate of the race — a group of five riders, including Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), opened up a small advantage, splintering the field behind. When the break was reeled back in a short time later, the pace remained high, with many more riders being shelled at the back.

Chavanel found himself in another move after descending from the Cipressa and getting away with Ian Stannard (Sky) and Eduard Vorganov (Katusha). Working together, the group of managed to create a gap of nearly 30 seconds as Cannondale led the field once more.

When Vorganov couldn’t handle the pace and fell back, it was left to Stannard and Chavanel to hold onto an ever-shrinking lead. But as predicted, it was the final climb of the day, the Poggio, that proved decisive.

Maxim Iglinksiy (Astana) jumped first, but his moved was quickly neutralised when Paolini attacked bringing Peter Sagan, Filippo Pozzato (Lampre), Cancellara and eventual winner Ciolek with him. As the small chasing group crested the Poggio and began the descent, it still looked as if Chavanel and Stannard might stay away. But with Sagan at the head of affairs, the gap quickly came down. With 3km left to race the leaders were caught and it was clear that the winner was going to come from one of Sagan, Ciolek, Stannard, Cancellara, Chavanel or Paolini.

The British champion Stannard put in several attacks in the closing stages but was spent when it came to the final sprint for the line. Cancellara made one move that was ill-fated, and Sagan appeared to do more work at the front than a sprinter of his calibre might have required. Ciolek, meanwhile, kept his face out of the wind and played it to perfection.

Sagan wound up his final sprint earlier than he might have and as the Slovak started to tire in the closing metres, Ciolek had enough staying power to get ahead and stay ahead in the lunge for the line.

It’s the 26-year-old German’s biggest victory to date and indeed for his MTN-Qhubeka team which was only elevated to ProContinental (second tier) status in November last year. It is the first African team to achieve that ranking.

Stay posted to CyclingTips for full results and further coverage of the 2013 Milan-San Remo.

Race Results