Vincenzo Nibali wins Milan-San Remo

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Milan-San Remo is a race that crescendos like no other. Once again, the build-up was long and slow but the seven hours of calm were more than redeemed by a breathless final 15 minutes over the Poggio and onto the Via Roma, where Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) claimed a solo victory that will live long in the memory.

The Italian went clear on the Poggio, flew down the vertiginous descent, and held off the chasing peloton in the final two kilometres. It was an absolute nail-biter of a finale but Nibali was a picture of cool as he sat up and celebrated in the final 50 metres while futile sprints were unfurled behind.

Caleb Ewan (Mitchelton-Scott) was the best of the rest, backing up his 10th place debut last year, while 2016 champion Arnaud Démare (FDJ) was third, but the day belonged to one man.

Already a winner of all three Grand Tours and twice Il Lombardia champion, Nibali adds another dimension to his palmares with a third Monument victory. He also ends 12 years of hurt in becoming the first Italian to triumph at La Primavera since Pippo Pozzato in 2006.

Beyond the finish line he was mobbed by his entourage and the Italian fans, and the exhaustion soon made way for exhilaration. "I don't have words," he told the TV cameras.

Nibali was nominally working alongside teammate Sonny Colbrelli as an unaggressive race, which started out in driving rain before being slowed by a headwind on the Ligurian coast, seemed destined to culminate in a bunch sprint. As it was, he almost went away by stealth on the Poggio, following an attack from Krists Neilands (Israel Cycling Academy) before finding himself alone with a surprisingly big gap over the large bunch.

"In the last 15km I had really good sensations," said Nibali. "On the Poggio I worked with Colbrelli and in the last 5km I only followed the other rider. When my director came on the radio and gave me the time gap, I only thought 'full gas'."

Having dropped Neilands, and having kicked again to fend off a chase from Nathan Haas (Katusha-Alpecin), Nibali continued to pull away and crested the Poggio with 10 seconds in hand. An artist of a descender, he cut through the tight corners without fault and carried a lead of eight seconds onto the flat roads in the final two kilometres. Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott) tried a last gasp attack, while FDJ and Quick-Step Floors mounted late chases, but Nibali's resilience proved too much.

Everyone expects Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) to add Milan-San Remo to his palmares one day but the world champion had to settle for sixth place today. He had been active in the chase towards the top of the Poggio and followed his teammate Daniel Oss down the descent before tracking Trentin, but was unable to make the podium in the sprint. Quick-Step Floors led out for Elia Viviani but the Italian faded badly. Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emriates), another former winner, finished fourth, with Jurgen Roelandts (BMC) taking an impressive fifth. Michael Matthews (Sunweb), Magnus Cort (Astana), and Colbrelli, all sprinters who can climb, came in next, while Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) rounded out the top 10.

Earlier in the race Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) was forced to abandon, the former winner hitting a bollard just ahead of the Poggio and catapulting over the top before being hit from behind as other riders ploughed in to him.

How it happened

The riders woke up to heavy rain in Milan, and it continued to pour as they arrived at the start in the shadow of the Castello Sforzesco in central Milan to sign on and prepare for seven hours and 294 kilometres in the saddle, bellies full from the morning's feast of carbohydrates.

Despite the conditions, the riders seemed happy to be racing and excited to contest the first Monument of the season. Teams signed on together, with Bora-Hansgrohe and Team Sky the last on stage, reflecting their importance and success in 2017. UCI President David Lappartient was also at the start and posed for photographs with Sagan.

The riders rolled out of central Milan under pouring rain, with only the forecasts of dry, sunny conditions in San Remo to boost their morale.

The race officially started on the long straight via della Chiesa Rossa, 7.6km south of Milan. The flag dropped at 10:13 and the race was on, with 294km to race. Loïc Chetout (Cofidis) was the only non-starter.

As per tradition, the break soon formed, with the peloton happy to let the early attacks go. Surprisingly nine riders got in the move and worked smoothly to escape to glory.

The nine riders were Mirco Maestri and Lorenzo Rota (Bardiani-CSF), Evgeny Koberniak (Gazprom Rusvelo), Guy Sagiv (Israel Cycling Academy), Dennis Van Winden (Israel Cycling Academy), Sho Hatsuyama (Nippo-Vini Fantini), Charles Planet (Novo Nordisk), Matteo Bono (UAE Team Emirates) and Jacopo Mosca (Wilier Selle Italia).

Only Bono was from a WorldTour team but the Italian loves to be in the Milan-San Remo break. He was also in the move in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

The peloton let the nine go away on the flat roads of Lombardy and they pushed their lead out to 6:00 after an hour of racing at 41.2kph, with Bora-Hansgrohe, Team Sky and Quick-Step Floors setting the tempo behind. The rain eased in Novi Ligure but the road remained wet on the way to the Passo Turchino.

The Passo Turchino rises to 532m but climbs gradually from Ovada. However, it helped the peloton pull back time on the break, with BMC upping the pace slightly as the race headed into the clouds. At the summit it was down to 4:30 and even less after Team Sky lead the peloton down the descent. The peloton eased as they smelled the sea air for the first time and the break of nine pushed their lead back out to 5:00.

Wet roads and traffic furniture raised the tension in the peloton a little and the pace eased after a crash saw Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) go down and dirt his white kit. Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) was also involved, as was Lukasz Wisniowski of Team Sky and Mitchell Docker (EF Education First-Drapac). Docker and the Polish rider were unable to continue, leaving Team Sky a rider down for the finale.

Sagan was wisely riding up front in the wheels of Team Sky, who were protecting Michal Kwiatkowski and Gianni Moscon.

With 140km left to race, with 161.7km in their legs, Luke Rowe (Team Sky), Tim Declercq (Quick-Step Floors) and Juraj Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) continued to take turns on the front to keep the break in check.

Sun shines and speeds rise

The rain fell hard and heavy in Savona but the riders could see blue skies along the coast as they snaked along the coast. Their odyssey in the rain ended with 70km to go, with the roads finally turned dry in Ceriale. The break was being gradually reeled in thanks to the work of Juraj Sagan, Rowe and Quick-Step Floors.

Rider began to take off their rain jackets, overshoes and swap gloves, with Sagan getting a push from a Bora-Hansgrohe teammate on the front of the peloton as he prepared for the finale. The speed rose as did the tension but the rain meant 2018 would be one of the slowest editions of recent years. With 50km to go, as the first Capi climbs began to bite the riders' legs, the break was just 2:00 head of the peloton.

As they reached the Cappo Berta, with 39km to go, the gap was down to half a minute, and already Marcel Kittel was being distanced from the bunch. Ahead, the attacks started to shatter the breakaway, with Maestri having a go on the high-speed descent. The climb left only four men out front, with Van Winden, Bono, and Rota surviving the acceleration.

Kittel had Nils Politt to haul him back into the bunch, and with enough flat roads before the Cipressa, he tacked back onto the bunch with time to recover. The breakaway had no hopes of surviving to the base of the climb as Groupama-FDJ set a furious pace as they headed toward San Lorenzo al Mare. With 30km to go, the bunch was all back together, the sky was blue, the sun warm, and possibilities endless.

Calm on the Cipressa

Mitchelton-Scott was at the front for Matteo Trentin as they hit the base of the Cipressa, and Nathan Haas was on the wheel of Nibali awaiting the inevitable attack as once again, his teammate Kittel was spat out the back as soon as the road tilted upward. Peter Sagan was placidly tucked in the midst of the peloton, while Arnaud Demare sat fourth wheel, in the back seat of his Groupama-FDJ train with Ignatas Konovalovas driving.

The pace was well controlled, with weaker riders heading out the back, but the sprinters and puncheurs biding their time as Team Sky headed to the front to take over from FDJ.

Dylan van Baarle's efforts strong out the bunch but Demare was still looking comfortable just behind, while Kristoff, Cavendish, Ewan and more still in the mix. Astana came to the front before the top, but the pace was still relatively sedate leading to some elbows being thrown in the bunch as riders fought to hold position.

Poggio springboard

A huge peloton sped to the Poggio, with a full-on lead-out into the base of the climb from Groupama-FDJ and Astana driving the pace flat out. But the traffic furniture just before the climb caused a horrific crash, with Cavendish nailing the bollard in the middle of the road and crashing heavily.

Bahrain-Merida took over the pacemaking as the gradient began to bite, before Marcus Burghard opened a gap, with BMC's Jempy Drucker tacking onto the move.

Drucker left Burghardt behind before the top, but Bahrain-Merida kept up the pressure behind and reeled him in.

Krists Nielands launched the attack before the crest of the Poggio that Nibali took advantage of, and although Nielands was soon dropped, Nibali forged on alone with a suddenly large advantage.

Over the top, the gap was 12 seconds for one of the best descenders in the peloton with a long history of blasting down the Poggio, and it was panic stations behind, as Matteo Trentin sensed the danger and set off in pursuit.

Nibali still had nine thin seconds and a long line of riders chasing him as he reached the bottom, with defending champino Michal Kwiatkowski, Michael Matthews, Sagan and Ewan all eyeing each other behind.

With all of Italy clenching their teeth down upon on their fingernails, Nibali entered the final turns with the peloton bearing down on him, with last year's runner-up Julian Alaphilippe leading the bunch in.

But he'd finally timed his Poggio attack correctly, and after a dozen years of disappointment, Italy finally had a champion in La Classicissima in Vincenzo Nibali.

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