March 17, 2017

2017 Milan San Remo Preparation

Demare

Mark Cavendish beat Heinrich Haussler to win Milan San Remo in 2009. He beat him by about an inch on the line. Winning that race was the result of thousands of little decisions made by Cavendish and Haussler themselves but also by their team-mates, rivals, directeur sportifs and loved ones. All of those decisions put together added up to what transpired between the two men in the approach to the finish line.

What became clear in the instant that Cavendish thrust his wheel one inch in front of Haussler’s was that Cavendish’s decision to ride Tirreno-Adriatico was right and Haussler’s decision to ride Paris-Nice was wrong.

~ Continue reading ~

• • •

February 18, 2013

Cavendish and Milan San Remo – An Air of Inevitability

“I’m not looking forward to Milan San Remo, it’s not really a race for me anymore.”

So says Mark Cavendish, professional cyclist and professional bullshitter. The world’s best sprinter uttered these words in the aftermath of the Tour of Qatar which he won overall along with four stages and the points classification. And he was only there in the first place as a last minute replacement for the injured Tom Boonen.

Cavendish may want all of his rivals to believe that Milan San Remo is not a season goal of his, but the facts tell a different story – that he has never been in better shape at this stage of the season.

~ Continue reading ~

• • •

March 27, 2011

The Superteam is Falling Flat

‘Perhaps no single squad has had as much talent ready for Paris-Roubaix since Mapei in 2000’. Well, so says April’s Pro Cycling magazine alongside a photograph of Garmin-Cervelo’s trinity of classics specialists Tyler Farrar, Thor Hushovd and Heinrich Haussler.

The new superteam can also boast experienced cobbled classic riders such as Andreas Klier, Roger Hammond, Martijn Maaskant, Johan van Summeren as well as the up and coming Sep Vanmarcke who has already been pegged for greatness. On paper it’s a formidable lineup. But gelling these riders into a coherent and selfless unit with clear goals and objectives isn’t easy. In fact it is the amount of talented riders which makes this task all the more difficult.

~ Continue reading ~

• • •