20k followers

12k

THE BEAUTY OF CYCLING

Milan-San Remo In Photos

March 18, 2013

Wade Wallace | Photography by Cor Vos
RCS Sport

It was an absolutely horrendous day for the 104th edition of Milan-San Remo. In fact the weather was so treacherous that the climb and descent of the snow-covered Passo del Turchino was removed from the race entirely, with riders being driven roughly 50km down the road in their team buses. In case you missed it, here's how the action-packed race played out in photos …

: The conditions got so bad that the race organisers called off the race. The riders got back in their busses to drive over the Passo del Turchinot and around the nearly-5km-long “Le Manie” climb.

: A marshall holds the peloton at the race restart to ensure that the breakaway group’s lead of 7 minutes and 10 seconds is maintained.

: Philppe Gilbert attacks on the Cipressa descent ahead of the peloton which had been reduced to only 40 riders.

: Chavanel attacked with Stannard after the descent on the Cipressa

: The move that won the race. Cancellara responds to the attack by Paolini on the Poggio that led to the formation of a six-rider breakaway. Ciolek (also pictured) made the selection, winning in the sprint finish.

: Cancellara, Ciolek and Paolini on the descent of the Poggio. Sagan (not shown) lead the descent to catch Chavanel and Stannard.

: The final group of six sprinting towards the line. Sagan tried to break away with a few kilometers remaining and did much more work than he needed to. It was his race to lose and in hindsight he jumped far too early. But it could have paid off…

: Gerald Ciolek gets MTN Qhubeka’s first World Tour win. “It’s unbelievable,” said Ciolek after crossing the finish line. “This is an unbelievable success for us and just an incredible day. We just came here as a wildcard and now we’re standing here with the trophy. This is great. I knew I had to follow all the best riders on the Poggio and it worked out perfectly. “When I chose this team, people wondered why I would join a Pro Continental team but it’s just been unbelievable. The coaching and staff on this team is so professional. I have never seen management care so much for the riders. I am happy to be on this team,” an elated Ciolek concluded.

: Ciolek and Cancellara

tags: 2013 Milan-San Remo

Previous Article Next Article

Voltz

Epic
Voltz

Epic
- http://twitter.com/alexroseinnes alexroseinnes
  
  That was epic. If anyone ever claims their 100km ride on an 18 degree Sydney winter’s day is epic, I will point them towards this post. The slap them.
  - Alan
    
    Yep. Yesterday, a friend of mine in the Netherlands attempted to check the route of an Audax randonnee. He got stuck.
Andy

So many photos worthy of a caption contest!
Ted

When I’m umming and ahhing about those winter morning rides, I shall remember this day. Rule #5…
- http://www.facebook.com/morgan.andriulli Morgan Andriulli
  
  Rule #5 is the most important rule.
Anonymous

Remember when Ciolek was at T-Mobile and was regarded up there with Cav and Greipel? Amazing vindication for a guy who’s had a couple of fallow years.
norm

Did anyone else notice that the marshall holding the peloton back at the re-start is wearing heels? Must be an Italian thing?
- jules
  
  could actually be a woman.. although they’re not usually wearing that much on italian tv
- jman
  
  or the marshall is a woman??
  - Deb
    
    She is. Look at the hands.
- EchiDna_sg
  
  why is that weird? nothing suggests it isn’t a woman in the photo and chances are the riders would pay more attention to a lady anyway…
- EchiDna_sg
  
  why is that weird? nothing suggests it isn’t a woman in the photo and chances are the riders would pay more attention to a lady anyway…
- http://www.facebook.com/peter.smith.3994885 Peter Smith
  
  I must be different I just thought to myself those shoes are stuffed.
http://twitter.com/hmoffatt Hamish Moffatt

The photo of Cancellara after the finish is a classic.
The Potato Man

I am yet to figure out why pros don’t have access to/use fenders for conditions such as this. Moronic UCI rules aside, there is no reason why ultra lightweight fenders could not be made for racing bikes. If we can make sub 700g frames we can make sub 200g fenders that are stiff and strong.
- Paolo
  
  Can be dangerous in a crash when fenders become sticks. You can actually feel the wind much more as well and when you race you’ll get wet anyway.
  - The Potato Man
    
    Fenders could actually be designed to be more aerodynamic than without (i.e. guide wind around the rotating wheels). They would also make it safer due to reduced spray in the bunch for better visibility. Most of the likely disadvantages with fenders are either myths, or could be mitigated with good design/engineering (in my opinion at least).
  - The Potato Man
    
    Fenders could actually be designed to be more aerodynamic than without (i.e. guide wind around the rotating wheels). They would also make it safer due to reduced spray in the bunch for better visibility. Most of the likely disadvantages with fenders are either myths, or could be mitigated with good design/engineering (in my opinion at least).
    - jerome
      
      sounds like you have a might have a market!
      - The Potato Man
        
        Lol, any experts in Carbon Fibre manufacturing out there?
        
        http://twitter.com/chiasticon joe
        
        you should check out the portland design works full metal fenders. they’re just over 200g and designed to be used on race-style bikes without fender eyelets, large clearance, etc.
        
        i don’t see pros ever using fenders in a race though. for a few reasons: has less of a “hard man” vibe. if it’s raining, you’ll be soaked anyway. they don’t particularly care about preserving kit they get for free. unless the whole peloton wears ‘em, doesn’t really help the visibility/spray factor.
  - The Potato Man
    
    Fenders could actually be designed to be more aerodynamic than without (i.e. guide wind around the rotating wheels). They would also make it safer due to reduced spray in the bunch for better visibility. Most of the likely disadvantages with fenders are either myths, or could be mitigated with good design/engineering (in my opinion at least).
  - http://www.facebook.com/pmark1bike pmark1bike
    
    Shattered carbon would be more of a concern IMO, a good set of mudgaurds keeps your rear and feet dry, no good unless everyone in the bunch has them though. http://instagram.com/p/WOnbmevK4d/
- Mike
  
  If you ride in wet weather, fenders are priceless. It will save your jerseys as well as the bike. As for racing, it could make rear wheel changes quite difficult. Of course, that would depend on the length of the fender.
- Matt de Neef
  
  There were a couple of riders sporting make-shift fenders last night. I can’t remember who, but there were a few of them.
  - jules
    
    my wife was given a disposable fender at some event – Great Vic Bike Ride? – which you can fit without tools etc. would be perfect for these races.
    - http://www.cyclingTipsBlog.com cyclingTips
      
      I saw a photo on instagram by Kristof Ramon of a small fender on Frederik Willems’ bike (Lotto-Belisol)
      - The Potato Man
        
        That’s more of a guard than a fender IMO. I was thinking something similar to those on Randonneuring bikes. Full length and fully integrated, like on Jan Heine’s René Herse:
        http://janheine.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/jhherse_full.jpg
      - http://twitter.com/ankush83 Ankush Agarwal
        
        Lars Bak had it too
      - jules
        
        that looks like it. a front one would be good for racing, to stop the spray coming up into your eyes.
  - Emil
    
    The fenders Lotto-Belisol and Vacansoleil-DCM were using were Ass Savers http://ass-savers.com
- Jonba
  
  crud road racers are plenty common enough in uk. Fit nicely on racing bikes for people without a winter bike.
Abdu

Ian Stannard, the hard man of hard men. His podium at K-B-K a couple of years ago was impressive, similar arctic conditions. He had a serious crack here too, tried to break the race open. Not surprising only 40 or so riders finished MSR, that race was epic long before Rapha first totally misused that word…
DaGoose

Maybe too late to get noticed but the following hard men must get a mention somewhere. Simon Gerrans, Adam Hansen and Francesco Gavazzi. They went straight to the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya after this… HARD!!! Hansen has since pulled out (not sure why). Who came up with these guy’s race schedules?!?!?!