For British team Sky, Saturday’s Milano-Sanremo proved to be something of a disaster; team leader Edvald Boasson Hagen was the only rider from the team to find himself ahead of the field splitting crash and the isolated Norwegian was unable to respond to the accelerations on the Poggio. The prodigious 23-year-old finished in 30th place, 1’44” behind race winner Matt Goss (HTC-Highroad); Bradley Wiggins was the team’s next best finisher, in 44th place, 5’23” down.
For British champion Geraint Thomas, his first experience of la Primavera was one to both learn from, and to forget.
“I got the call up for Milan-Sanremo Monday night after Paris Nice,” he explained. “It was a nice feeling to know the team were really happy with my form and so putting me into one of the biggest one day races of the year. Kilometre-wise it certainly is, being 300km in length!! This didn't really play on my mind, but it did 'hit me' when we got our schedule... this is when I saw we had 2 feed zones at 135km and 224km!”
Friday night saw the team sit down and talk through the race as they would like it to go; unfortunately for the team in black though, the conditions in the race were to conspire against them.
“We had a meeting the night before,” said Thomas, “when we discussed tactics for the following day. Eddie [Boasson Hagen] was to be the sole leader. [Ian] Stannard and Kurt [Asle Arvesen] were to watch for any big groups going clear early on, then to do bottle runs, take kit back and keep us out of the wind etc.
“It was up to the other guys to get Eddie to the finish spending as little energy as possible,” he continued. “At the same time they were to push the pace if needed on the Cipressa and Poggio to get rid of some sprinters. It was down to me to be with Eddie during the final part of the race and lead him out at the finish. Well that was the plan anyway...”
Rain in the second half of the race ruined the chances of many of the race’s favourites; 2009 and 2010 winners Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) and Oscar Friere (Rabobank), as well as World champion Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervélo) all saw themselves caught behind a split (although Cavendish’s teammate went on to win); Boasson Hagen made the front group, but he was the only Sky rider that did.
“As you probably know, it didn't really pan out like that...” said Thomas of the team’s plans. “As with 100km to go the race split on the wet and very slippery decent of Le Manie. I was caught up in the crash at the bottom of the climb so was at the back of the bunch on the descent.
“Before we knew it the group of 40 or so guys had 2 minutes. This meant the race ended up being a bit of an anticlimax. The situation wasn't a disaster for us, as we had Eddie up there, so we just had to sit back and be ready to go if the group was brought back.”
As it turned out though, aggressive riding from a number of the race’s big guns on the Cipressa, but especially on the Poggio, saw Boasson Hagen dropped and he finished alone; just ahead of Steve Chainel (FDJ), who’d been in the leading break on the Poggio but crashed on the descent.
“In the finale Eddie didn't quite have the legs so we didn't get the result we had hoped but it was still great to finish the race,” said Thomas. “I know the roads now and what to expect in the future.
“It's a great race, packed full of history and tradition,” he concluded. “I can't wait for next year!”