With Mark Cavendish lagging behind on the Poggio after dropping his chain on the Cipressa and having to chase back on, Etixx-QuickStep's hopes for a Milan-San Remo victory fell on the shoulders of Zdenek Stybar and World Champion Michal Kwiatkowski.
But those hopes, too, were dashed when a crash on the decsent off the Poggio took both riders out of contention.
“Let's hope tomorrow morning when I wake up from bed I won't feel anything,” Kwiatkowski said after the nearly seven-hour race. “But as of now I am feeling OK and I have to be happy about that. Bad luck today, especially that both of us were on the ground. The race looks different than what it could have been if that didn't happen.”
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In the end, it was Giant-Alpecin sprinter John Degenkolb who took the win ahead of defending champion Alexander Kristoff (Team Katusha) and Australian Michael Matthews (Orica-Greenedge). Cavendish was the top finisher for Etixx-Quickstep, crossing the line in 46th place, 23 seconds behind the winner.
It was a disappointing result for a team that seemed to have multiple options going into the finish on Via Roma.
“We did it perfectly today, my teammates did a great job putting us into good position,” Kwiatkowski said. “For the first time at Milan-San Remo I was there on the Poggio. We felt really comfortable. It was still a big group.
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