This year's Milan-San Remo appears to be more open than ever, with various non-sprinters challenging the fast finishers, with dreams of escaping their clutches at the finish on the Via Roma, just as Bahrain-Merida's Vincenzo Nibali and Team Sky's Michal Kwiatkowski have done in the past two editions.
If, as a sprinter, you want to be able to unleash your speed in the dash for the line, then you have to be able to get over the climbs of the Cipressa and the Poggio within touching distance of the front of the race, and then have teammates – or, failing that, do the work yourself – to chase and neutralise any infidels who won't accept that this is traditionally a race for the sprinters.
Do that, and you'll get your shot at attaining eternal glory as a winner of La Primavera. Fail, and watch the race slip away, safe in the knowledge that your strong finishing kick is of little use.
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Here, then, is our pick of some of the men most likely to feature at the finish in San Remo on Saturday.
Elia Viviani (Deceuninck-QuickStep)
Elia Viviani or Julian Alaphilippe? That might be the question on everyone's lips right now, and even more so if the two Deceuninck-QuickStep riders are still in the mix when the race crests the Poggio and begins its downhill run to the finish on San Remo's Via Roma.
In that situation, Alaphilippe would surely be the rider attempting to escape the clutches of the peloton in much the same way that last year's winner, Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida), successfully did, with Viviani then primed to blow the competition away if things are still together for a bunch sprint. However, Alaphilippe very much put the chat among the pigeons at last week's Tirreno-Adriatico when he – and not Viviani, who finished third – suddenly became the team's designated sprinter and won stage 6 in a bunch sprint.
Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep)
Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates)
Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma)
Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky)
Giacomo Nizzolo (Dimension Data)
Greg Van Avermaet (CCC Team)
Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe)
Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal)
Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe)
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/10-riders-to-watch-at-the-2019-milan-san-remo
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