Ready for Milano-SanRemo
La classica di Primavera is the longest professional one-day race at 298km and is one of the five monuments of European cycling alongside Flanders, Roubaix, Liège and the Giro di Lombardia.
The Milano-SanRemo is probably the most open of all of the five. The sprinters love it, the classics specialists love it and every year there are dozens of riders who genuinely fancy their chances.
While the race is long at 298km, it’s not really until the final 50km that things really begin to hot up. The pace of the race kicks-up, a couple of attacks and the non-contenders start to slip out the back. But it’s the final two climbs, the Cipressa at 22km and then the Poggio at 6 km to go, where the race is made and won. The classics specialists will be aiming to break free and crest the Poggio first whilst the sprinters will be scrambling to stay on as what’s left of the field plunges down into the town below and towards the finish.
HEINRICH HAUSSLER:
Tyler Farrar is Garmin’s top sprinter but Haussler, who nearly won here in 2009, is our pick from the Garmin-barracuda. He’s sprinting fantastically right now, and he’s got both the ability to make it over the hills and the experience of what it takes for a top finish here. After a full, injury-free season in 2011, he’s looking like he might regain the form he had in 2009.
Haussler has an excellent team at his disposal, with the likes of Farrar, Millar, Klier, Le Mevel, Wegmann and Vansummeren not just bringing some serious firepower but offering a range of tactical cards to play depending on how the race unfolds. Haussler is a super talent and this year’s race is his opportunity to add ‘La Primavera‘ to his palmares.
Photo: Garmin-Barracuda.