If you would have told me before the start of Milan-San Remo that Matt Goss would have his arms up at the end of the day, there's a good chance I'd believe you. Halfway through? Sure. 50 km remaining? Yep. Last 10 km? Not a chance.Matt Goss capped off an amazing but crazy edition of the Spring Classic by essentially being the only rider in the field who didn't attack. He found every single wheel he needed to, and then the 8 man sprint at the end of the race was his for the taking.
But let's back up a bit.
The brutally long race took a turn towards craziness in the final 90 kms when Thor Hushovd crashed in the middle of the field. He was able to get back up and going but then Oscar Freire crashed just up the road.
These crashes did not eliminate any riders from the field, but what they did do was essentially split the peloton in half and allow a 44 man elite "breakaway" (if you want to call them that) to get up the road on the rest of the field.Many sprinters like Goss, Haussler, Greipel, Boasson-Hagen, Sagan, Boonen, and Petacchi were able to make the move but there were several big names that were not.
Hushovd and Freire were stuck in the chasing group along with race favorites Tyler Farrar and Mark Cavendish. Both HTC and Garmin completely missed the split and would have been completely shut out had it not been for good foresight from "backup" sprinters Goss and Haussler.
Would they have been more active in the chase? Maybe, but I still don't think it would have made a difference. The lead group had just too many strong riders in it and they were tearing across the Italian countryside at breakneck pace.
While domestiques started dropping from the lead group after doing their work for their teammates, there was one man who was moving the other way.
Michele Scarponi put in a truly inspired ride today when he jumped across the gap (which is remarkable considering the pace the field was travelling at) and then took up the pacemaking in the lead group when he got there.
There were a few attacks on the Cipressa, but each was marked well by the (still somewhat large) lead group. BMC especially was doing quite a bit of work for their man Alessandro Ballan, but it was one of his teammates that would soon steal the show.
Yoann Offredo and his teammate Steve Chainel (who was a man on a mission today) launched an attack on the Cipressa descent along with Stuart O'Grady and BMC's Greg Van Avermaet.
Pacemaking work done mainly by Chainel stretched the gap to a dangerous 30 seconds over the leaders, and then Offredo tried his first of several attacks.
Van Avermaet had him marked and soon even overtook him.
After a bit of a delay, the leaders finally recognized the danger of the gap Van Avermaet was opening (now by himself) and they prepared to attack.
Gilbert was the first to respond, with Cancellara, Ballan, and Scarponi right with him. Katusha's Filippo Pozzato (a former MSR winner himself) also responded, and Goss was right on his wheel. Nobody paid much attention to Goss clinging to the back wheel at the time though, as all the action was up front.Van Avermaet looked to be caught when he began the descent just 15 seconds ahead of Cancellara (an expert descender) and the group of attackers following him.
Offredo tried to launch again, followed by a strong kick by Gilbert but each time someone else was right there to mark it. They made their way down to the flat leading up to the finish line, and then they got back together into a group of 8.
It was really the first time anybody said anything about Goss, and then it donned on the attackers and their team cars. UH OH, WE FORGOT TO DROP THE SPRINTER.
Goss sat on Gilbert's wheel, waited for Scarponi and Gilbert to kick, and then simply flew right past them en route to the biggest sprint of his career. Cancellara surged for 2nd place and Gilbert held onto 3rd.
So how on earth did this happen? The headline leading up to the race was "Can an Attacker Foil the Sprinters?" but I don't think anybody expected the flip side.If you ask Gilbert or Nibali they would probably blame themselves for allowing him to stay with them. Their cat and mouse games throughout the last few kms and constant marking of each other allowed Goss time to recover between attacks and then simply latch onto someone else's wheel.
It was brilliant and can serve as an inspiration to sprinters everywhere. Goss didn't even have any teammates in the first lead group so he was left to fend for himself. He marked every attack perfectly, and still managed to save enough to take the win at the end.
Sprinters are becoming more and more well-rounded these days with the emergence of hybrids like Boasson-Hagen, Sagan, and Bennati. I'm not sure I would put Goss in that category quite yet but he did prove that he is a good enough climber to stick with these attacks and a smart enough rider to know who to follow.
Gossy has been on a gradual march to the top of the cycling world ever since last year's Vuelta, and now he can truly stand among many of the great sprinters (including his teammate Cav) as a winner of the Classicisma.
I'm not even going to get into what this means for the sprinter hierarchy within HTC-Highroad, but I will say that right now Matt Goss is probably the best sprinter in the world. HTC will have some tough decisions to make come Tour time, choosing between bringing Goss or perhaps another domestique for Tony Martin. Plenty of time to think about that though.
Two final comments: The first is that Matt Goss became the first Australian to win Milan-San Remo. Add his incredible year to other sprinters like Haussler and Matthews and then factor in the success of Cam Meyer, Jack Bobridge (track), and Cadel Evans and it's safe to say that the Aussies have owned cycling these first 3 months. Lot of promise in that bunch.
The second comment (and you knew this was coming) has to do with radios. Yet another dramatic (and unpredictable) finish with the earpieces in. It seems that the races with radios are turning out exactly how McQuaid described they should without them. Anybody who claims that HTC won this from the team car today was downright crazy. The only purpose served by the radios today was to alert the riders of the wet roads and the tricky descents of the final few climbs to avoid serious carnage.
But that discussion will happen when it's ready. For now all I have to say is congrats again to Matt Goss. As some of his teammates tweeted him after the race, he now is a "legend."
FULL RESULTS1. Matthew Harley Goss (Aus), HTC-Highroad, 6:51:10
2. Fabian Cancellara (Sui), Leopard-Trek, s.t.
3. Philippe Gilbert (Bel), Omega Pharma-Lotto, s.t.
4. Alessandro Ballan (Ita), BMC Racing Team, s.t.
5. Filippo Pozzato (Ita), Team Katusha, s.t.
6. Michele Scarponi (Ita), Lampre-ISD, s.t.
7. Yoann Offredo (Fra), Française Des Jeux, s.t.
8. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita), Liquigas-Doimo, at 0:03
9. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel), BMC Racing Team, at 0:10
10. Stuart O’grady (Aus), Leopard-Trek, at 0:12
11. Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Esp), Movistar, at 0:27
12. Alessandro Petacchi (Ita), Lampre-ISD, at 0:27
13. Daniele Bennati (Ita), Leopard-Trek, at 0:27
14. Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Esp), Movistar, at 0:27
15. Marco Marcato (Ita), Vacansoleil-Dcm, at 0:27
16. Dominique Rollin (Can), Française Des Jeux, at 0:27
17. Peter Sagan (Svk), Liquigas-Doimo, at 0:27
18. Heinrich Haussler (Aus), Garmin-Cervélo, at 0:27
19. Alessandro Bertolini (Ita), Androni Giocattoli, at 0:27
20. Sylvain Chavanel (Fra), Quick Step, at 0:27
21. Matteo Tosatto (Ita), Saxobank-Sungard, at 0:27
22. George Hincapie (USA), BMC Racing Team, at 0:27
23. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr), Team RadioShack, at 0:27
24. Francesco Failli (Ita), Farnese Vini, at 0:27
25. Linus Gerdemann (Ger), Leopard-Trek, at 0:32
26. Pablo Lastras Garcia (Esp), Movistar, at 0:33
27. Vladimir Gusev (Rus), Team Katusha, at 1:06
28. Tom Boonen (Bel), Quick Step, at 1:12
29. Sacha Modolo (Ita), Colnago-CSF, at 1:12
30. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor), Team Sky, at 1:44
31. Steve Chainel (Fra), Française Des Jeux, at 1:47
32. Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Esp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 1:55
33. André Greipel (Ger), Omega Pharma-Lotto, at 3:59
34. Jurgen Roelandts (Bel), Omega Pharma-Lotto, at 3:59
35. Andreas Klier (Ger), Garmin-Cervélo, at 5:14
36. Robbie Mcewen (Aus), Team RadioShack, at 5:23
37. Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat), Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne, at 5:23
38. Niki Terpstra (Ned), Quick Step, at 5:23
39. Leonardo Fabio Duque (Col), Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne, at 5:23
40. Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr), Française Des Jeux, at 5:23
41. Lloyd Mondory (Fra), Ag2r La Mondiale, at 5:23
42. Romain Feillu (Fra), Vacansoleil-Dcm, at 5:23
43. Fabian Wegmann (Ger), Leopard-Trek, at 5:23
44. Bradley Wiggins (Gbr), Team Sky, at 5:23
45. Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu), Movistar, at 5:23
46. Tyler Farrar (USA), Garmin-Cervélo, at 5:23
47. Bernhard Eisel (Aut), HTC-Highroad, at 5:23
48. Marcus Burghardt (Ger), BMC Racing Team, at 5:23
49. Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra), Team RadioShack, at 5:23
50. Mauro Finetto (Ita), Liquigas-Doimo, at 5:23
51. Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus), Team Katusha, at 5:23
52. Mark Cavendish (Gbr), HTC-Highroad, at 5:23
53. Baden Cooke (Aus), Saxobank-Sungard, at 5:23
54. Grega Bole (Slo), Lampre-ISD, at 5:23
55. Manuel Belletti (Ita), Colnago-CSF, at 5:23
56. Danilo Hondo (Ger), Lampre-ISD, at 5:23
57. Juan Jose Oroz Ugalde (Esp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 5:23
58. Marco Frapporti (Ita), Colnago-CSF, at 5:23
59. Lars Ytting Bak (Den), HTC-Highroad, at 5:23
60. Geraint Thomas (Gbr), Team Sky, at 5:23
61. Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra), Française Des Jeux, at 5:23
62. Massimo Codol (Ita), Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo, at 5:23
63. Damiano Caruso (Ita), Liquigas-Doimo, at 5:23
64. Karsten Kroon (Ned), BMC Racing Team, at 5:23
65. Danilo Wyss (Sui), BMC Racing Team, at 5:23
66. Simon Clarke (Aus), Astana, at 5:23
67. Danilo Napolitano (Ita), Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo, at 5:23
68. David Gutierrez Gutierrez (Esp), Geox-TMC, at 5:23
69. Valerio Agnoli (Ita), Liquigas-Doimo, at 5:23
70. Nick Nuyens (Bel), Saxobank-Sungard, at 5:23
71. Tiziano Dall’antonia (Ita), Liquigas-Doimo, at 5:23
72. Manuele Mori (Ita), Lampre-ISD, at 5:23
73. Anders Lund (Den), Leopard-Trek, at 5:23
74. Marzio Bruseghin (Ita), Movistar, at 5:23
75. Thomas De Gendt (Bel), Vacansoleil-Dcm, at 5:23
76. Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Esp), Team Sky, at 5:23
77. Björn Leukemans (Bel), Vacansoleil-Dcm, at 5:23
78. Gianni Meersman (Bel), Française Des Jeux, at 5:23
79. Arkaitz Duran Aroca (Esp), Geox-TMC, at 5:23
80. Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra), Française Des Jeux, at 5:23
81. Adam Hansen (Aus), Omega Pharma-Lotto, at 5:23
82. Giovanni Visconti (Ita), Farnese Vini, at 5:23
83. Michael Rogers (Aus), Team Sky, at 5:23
84. Jérôme Pineau (Fra), Quick Step, at 5:23
85. Jussi Veikkanen (Fin), Omega Pharma-Lotto, at 5:23
86. Thomas Lövkvist (Swe), Team Sky, at 5:23
87. Angel Vicioso Arcos (Esp), Androni Giocattoli, at 5:23
88. Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Esp), Movistar, at 5:23
89. Francesco Reda (Ita), Quick Step, at 5:23
90. Enrico Gasparotto (Ita), Astana, at 5:23
91. Andriy Grivko (Ukr), Astana, at 5:23
92. Roberto Ferrari (Ita), Androni Giocattoli, at 5:23
93. Simone Stortoni (Ita), Colnago-CSF, at 5:23
94. Oscar Freire Gomez (Esp), Rabobank Cycling Team, at 5:23
95. Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita), Ag2r La Mondiale, at 5:23
96. Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz), Team RadioShack, at 5:23
97. Alberto Ongarato (Ita), Vacansoleil-Dcm, at 5:23
98. Robert Wagner (Ger), Leopard-Trek, at 5:23
99. Matthew Wilson (Aus), Garmin-Cervélo, at 5:23
100. Sebastian Langeveld (Ned), Rabobank Cycling Team, at 5:30
101. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita), Colnago-CSF, at 5:30
102. Ian Stannard (Gbr), Team Sky, at 6:10
103. Maarten Wynants (Bel), Rabobank Cycling Team, at 6:10
104. Michael Schär (Sui), BMC Racing Team, at 6:10
105. Ivan Santaromita (Ita), BMC Racing Team, at 6:10
106. Luca Barla (Ita), Androni Giocattoli, at 6:10
107. Michael Matthews (Aus), Rabobank Cycling Team, at 8:29
108. Vicente Reynes Mimo (Esp), Omega Pharma-Lotto, at 9:32
109. Michael Albasini (Sui), HTC-Highroad, at 9:32
110. Marcel Sieberg (Ger), Omega Pharma-Lotto, at 9:32
111. Grégory Rast (Sui), Team RadioShack, at 9:32
112. Lars Boom (Ned), Rabobank Cycling Team, at 9:32
113. Mark Renshaw (Aus), HTC-Highroad, at 9:32
114. Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita), Astana, at 9:32
115. Assan Bazayev (Kaz), Astana, at 9:32
116. Davide Malacarne (Ita), Quick Step, at 9:32
117. William Bonnet (Fra), Française Des Jeux, at 9:32
118. Biel Kadri (Fra), Ag2r La Mondiale, at 9:32
119. Mirko Selvaggi (Ita), Vacansoleil-Dcm, at 9:32
120. Borut Bozic (Slo), Vacansoleil-Dcm, at 9:32
121. Alessandro Donati (Ita), Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo, at 9:32
122. Luca Paolini (Ita), Team Katusha, at 9:32
123. Johan Van Summeren (Bel), Garmin-Cervélo, at 9:32
124. Leif Hoste (Bel), Team Katusha, at 9:32
125. Stefano Pirazzi (Ita), Colnago-CSF, at 9:32
126. Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor), Team Sky, at 9:32
127. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Garmin-Cervélo, at 9:32
128. Juan José Haedo (Arg), Saxobank-Sungard, at 9:32
129. Alessandro De Marchi (Ita), Androni Giocattoli, at 9:38
130. Ivan Velasco Murillo (Esp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 15:51
131. Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Esp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 15:51
132. Amets Txurruka (Esp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 15:51
133. Romain Zingle (Bel), Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne, at 15:51
134. Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn), Farnese Vini, at 15:51
135. Andrey Amador Bakkazakova (Crc), Movistar, at 15:51
136. Kevin Ista (Bel), Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne, at 15:51
137. Kevin Van Impe (Bel), Quick Step, at 15:51
138. Maarten Tjallingii (Ned), Rabobank Cycling Team, at 18:25
139. Jens Mouris (Ned), Vacansoleil-Dcm, at 18:25
140. Diego Ulissi (Ita), Lampre-ISD, at 18:25
141. Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu), Astana, at 18:25
142. Gustav Larsson (Swe), Saxobank-Sungard, at 18:25
143. Yuriy Krivtsov (Fra), Ag2r La Mondiale, at 18:25
144. Thomas Leezer (Ned), Rabobank Cycling Team, at 18:25
145. Daniele Ratto (Ita), Geox-TMC, at 18:25
146. Allan Davis (Aus), Astana, at 18:25
147. Roger Hammond (Gbr), Garmin-Cervélo, at 18:25
148. Sébastien Hinault (Fra), Ag2r La Mondiale, at 18:25
149. Wouter Weylandt (Bel), Leopard-Trek, at 18:25
150. Nico Sijmens (Bel), Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne, at 18:25
151. Jens Keukeleire (Bel), Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne, at 18:25
152. Javier Francisco Lorente (Esp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 18:25
153. Daniel Sesma (Esp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 18:25
154. Michael Morkov (Den), Saxobank-Sungard, at 18:25
155. Anthony Ravard (Fra), Ag2r La Mondiale, at 18:25
156. Kasper Klostergaard Larsen (Den), Saxobank-Sungard, at 18:25
DNF: Rick Flens (Ned), Rabobank Cycling Team
DNF: Paolo Ciavatta (Ita), Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo
DNF: Ruggero Marzoli (Ita), Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo
DNF: Claudio Corioni (Ita), Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo
DNF: Simone Masciarelli (Ita), Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo
DNF: Fabio Taborre (Ita), Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo
DNF: Martin Elmiger (Sui), Ag2r La Mondiale
DNF: Giairo Ermeti (Ita), Androni Giocattoli
DNF: Luca Solari (Ita), Androni Giocattoli
DNF: Antonio Santoro (Ita), Androni Giocattoli
DNF: Andrea Pasqualon (Ita), Colnago-CSF
DNF: Gianluca Brambilla (Ita), Colnago-CSF
DNF: Tristan Valentin (Fra), Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
DNF: Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Esp), Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF: Oscar Gatto (Ita), Farnese Vini
DNF: Leonardo Giordani (Ita), Farnese Vini
DNF: Andrea Noe (Ita), Farnese Vini
DNF: Davide Ricci Bitti (Ita), Farnese Vini
DNF: Diego Caccia (Ita), Farnese Vini
DNF: Matthias Brandle (Aut), Geox-TMC
DNF: David Blanco Rodriguez (Esp), Geox-TMC
DNF: Fabio Felline (Ita), Geox-TMC
DNF: Marko Kump (Slo), Geox-TMC
DNF: Matteo Pelucchi (Ita), Geox-TMC
DNF: Bert Grabsch (Ger), HTC-Highroad
DNF: Peter Velits (Svk), HTC-Highroad
DNF: Mikhail Ignatyev (Rus), Team Katusha
DNF: Aliaksandr Kuschynski (Blr), Team Katusha
DNF: Vladimir Isaichev (Rus), Team Katusha
DNF: Francesco Gavazzi (Ita), Lampre-ISD
DNF: Matteo Bono (Ita), Lampre-ISD
DNF: Kristijan Koren (Slo), Liquigas-Doimo
DNF: Alan Marangoni (Ita), Liquigas-Doimo
DNF: Vasili Kiryienka (Blr), Movistar
DNF: Sebastian Lang (Ger), Omega Pharma-Lotto
DNF: Maxim Iglinsky (Kaz), Astana
DNF: Marco Bandiera (Ita), Quick Step
DNF: David Tanner (Aus), Saxobank-Sungard
DNF: Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu), Garmin-Cervélo
DNF: Robert Hunter (RSA), Team RadioShack
DNF: Manuel Antonio Leal Cardoso (Por), Team RadioShack
DNF: Sébastien Rosseler (Bel), Team RadioShack
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