Touche.

Completely agree. That first move is what I consider normal in a sprint, it leaves just enough space for Jakobsen to squeeze through because he would've definitely passed Groenewegen. That 2nd one imo is too much already, and I believe the rule is that once they have initiated their sprint, they can't change lines anyway. Viviani got DQ'ed or relegated for a move not as deliberate/aggressive not too long ago.. The elbow might have been because they were already touching and he's trying to balance himself, I'll leave that in the middle but it definitely won't help his case.

I'm hoping riders can unite now against the UCI's lack of responsibility and safety measures, but I'm doubtful..

That said, let's hope we can have another great race tomorrow with La Primavera (or is it called l'Estate now or something?). Will Gilbert go early with Ewan sitting in in case it doesn't work out? I don't think he has the form at the moment to be honest. Will Sagan take another monument, I think this is the one he really wants this year. Wout van Aert will be very dangerous, he can jump with someone and go early or sprint with the best of them. Van der Poel seems a bit off until now, but will he be the aggressor on the Poggio and pull a Nibali? I expect Bettiol will try to pull off something. Stybar seemed good until now, perhaps better than LFF.

Kind of funny La Primavera ended up primavera, but for whatever reason doesn’t sound right this year. I’m with you on Sagan. Seems like he really wants this and has been relatively quiet, hopefully that makes him dangerous. As you pointed out, there will be aggression on the Poggio and will be a matter of who makes it and is left standing. I’m surprised how far down Wout is with oddsmakers:

Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe, 11/2
Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Fenix, 6/1
Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto-Soudal, 13/2
Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck – Quick-Step, 8/1
Wout van Aert (Bel) Jumbo-Visma, 9/1
Fernando Gaviria (Col) UAE Team Emirates, 12/1
Sam Bennett (Irl) Deceuninck – Quick-Step, 14/1
Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Lotto-Soudal, 16/1
Matteo Trentin (Ita) CCC, 22/1
Elia Viviani (Ita) Cofidis, 22/1

Man, really tough to call Milan San Remo this year.

I'll make a play for the sprinters, with a couple of 2nd-tier puncheurs as wild cards

Ewan
Bennett
Damare

wc: Trentin, Großschartner

Fess up, how much did GvA pay you to say that? :p

teams are limited to only six riders. I wonder if being short-handed will matter; its such a long race. I also wonder if we might finally have a breakaway. there is a lot of talent, a lot of fresh riders, and as we've seen, anything can fcuking 2020 happen

for me and the bookies

1 - WVA............because he is a beast
2 - Sagan....../...because he is always there
3 - MVdP...........because he is also a beast

and for the fanboys
Gilbert <3

WvA, Gilbert, Sagan
Ewen, MvdP

Sagan looked very good at Torino. Arnaud "the hitchhiker" Demare got a monster lead out, so no contest.

I'm with McEwen on the crash. Those barriers were for shite. The organizers knew that finish would be insanely fast and should have paid more attention. The bumping and grinding is what sprinting is at that level, for better or worse and this was worse.

word
man, I'd post less if Dan gave us a 'Like' button.

Alaphilippe , Niballi , WVA

imho this is a GT tour rider race no way sprinter get to the finish line with gas in the tank

---

The entire event (IM) is like "death by 1000 cuts" and the best race is minimizing all those cuts and losing less blood than the other guy. - Dev

Godammnit, you're making me want to change all my sprinter picks. You're probably right that no sprinters' teams are going to be able to reign in the guys punching over the climbs.

But it doesn't matter, no matter what I do I come in last here, and I'll look super smart if it somehow comes together at the end.

I see it as way too long for sprinter to have legs to make it over the climbs or get to the finish line with enough legs for a good sprint.

7hr in the saddle at race speed can't be easy

---

The entire event (IM) is like "death by 1000 cuts" and the best race is minimizing all those cuts and losing less blood than the other guy. - Dev

It would be good to see the total elevation gains for the day. Appears to be lumpy, but not particularly lumpy. Then again, RCS is known for "downplaying" gradients on hills...

I don't think it will affect the Matthews-type sprinter. Otoh, six-men teams may mean that there won't be enough firepower to keep breaks in check

im going with

WvA, Alaphilippe, Sagan

M vdP and Naesen

This is pretty much what I'm thinking. I'd love to see Phil Gil get it. Will be interesting to see who prevails here, the "old guard" like Gilbert, Sagan or Nibbles, or will the CX kids push them aside?

MvdP, WvA, Sagan
Gilbert, Nibs

Sleep well, chaps

 
Sagan, Wout, Ala
MvDP, Trentin

Gilbert, Bettiol, Trentin

Nizzolo, Van Vleuten

Who can still motor at the end of a really long, hard day? Sagan. Van Aert. Ewan.

Who might surprise? Bettiol. Naesen.

Who is too old? Gilbert. Nibali.

Gilbert, Sagan, WvA
Ala , Kwia

This bodes well for an exciting tour
https://www.cyclingnews.com/...020/stage-2/results/

Yeah, a good slugfest between Roglic and Bernal. Quintana isn’t far off either.

Good one. Saw what you did there.

Yeah maybe this will be the first time in a long time where the tour won't be a snooze fest.
It would be awesome if Qunitana is seriously in the mix this year

Trentin just crashed out, bummer.

It looks like TD punched the tickets of Froome and GT setting it up. That’s got to be concerning for Ineos.