This 291km race started with Nico Denz (Ag2r La Mondiale), Mattia Frapporti (Androni-Sidermec), Mirco Maestri (Bardiani-CSF), William Clarke, Tom Skujins (Cannondale-Drapac), Ivan Rovny (Gazprom-Rusvelo), Alan Marangoni (Nippo-Fantini), Umberto Poli (Novo Nordisk), Federico Zurlo (UAE Team Emirates), Julen Amezqueta (Wilier-Selle Italia) in an early break which was five minutes ahead after twenty-four kilometres.
The gap was still at 4.40 after one hundred kilometres but dropped to 2.18 at the feedzone before it went back up to 3.17 with 104kms remaining.
Onto the Capa Mele climb and the gap was at 2.10 but down to 1.43 when they went over the Capa Cervo and when they took on the Capa Berte the break started to fracture and by the time they had got to the Cipresse, it was all over.
Tim Wellens of Lotto Soudal tried with a couple of attacks but on the descent of the Cipresse, Tony Gallopin went with Philippe Gilbert trying to follow him.
Quick Step and UAE controlled things before Trek Segafredo led a group of fifty riders with ten kilometres left.
Team Sky’s Luke Rowe led as they started up the Poggio and then Tom Dumoulin took over. However, as they neared the top of the climb, World Champion Peter Sagan of Bora Hansgrohe put in an attack.
Team Sky’s Michal Kwiatkowski and Julian Alaphilippe of Quick Step went with him and as they entered San Remo with 1.9kms to go, they had a gap of seventeen seconds.
Sagan was the first to start his sprint on the Via Roma but Michal Kwiatkowski passed the Slovakian and took the win in 7.08.39 with Sagan second and Alaphilippe third.
Alexander Kristoff led the bund home five seconds later with Britain’s Ben Swift in 17th place.
FINAL PODIUM
1 – Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) – 291km in 7h08’39”, average speed 40.732km/h
2 – Peter Sagan (Bora – Hansgrohe) s.t.
3 – Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors) s.t.
The winner, Michal Kwiatkowski, said in the press conference: "In every classic it’s better to have several cards to play. After the Cipressa, the bunch looked huge and I thought there was a 95% chance of a bunch sprint. But on the Poggio, Sagan attacked. Elia [Viviani, teammate] told me over the radio to go after Sagan. I’m probably in a better position than most of the other riders to race against Sagan because we’ve competed together since we were juniors. Half of the bunch thinks he’s from another planet, but I truly believe he’s beatable. He was impressive on the Poggio but, wearing the rainbow jersey, he was in the worst situation [because he was the main target]. Alaphilippe and me put pressure on him. I was gambling a bit with his mind. I knew from last year that winning alone was impossible but following Sagan, yes. I left a little gap to make him launch his sprint from very far out. I’m just happy how it went."
Second classified, Peter Sagan, said: "I gave my maximum to try and win Milano-Sanremo. Thanks to my team who did a good job preparing for the finale. They kept me out of trouble; in this race, it’s important to avoid crashing. I was very close to crashing as I crossed the finishing line! The spectacle is important for the people who watch the race. Everybody is happy, I think. My attack on the Poggio was dictated by instinct. I just tried. I realized I was alone, then [Julian] Alaphilippe came across and we descended very quickly. It was a good show."
Third classified, Julian Alaphilippe, said: "I’ve been beaten by very strong riders, so I’m very happy to come third in my debut Milano-Sanremo. I was close to victory; I did my best and, looking at the two guys in front of me on the finishing line, I can’t have any regrets. I did everything right but, at the end, my legs were empty. I was full gas when Sagan attacked on the Poggio. He was super strong. I had to catch him before the summit and I tried to recover a little bit on the downhill. But I was also full gas trying to follow Sagan on the descent! In the last two kilometres, I wouldn’t pull for two reasons: I needed to recover and my sprinter was behind. We were racing for [Fernando] Gaviria. I'm satisfied. I hope to win this race one day."
By Kev Monks for Digital Sports Group
Source: DSG
