It was a cold, wet edition of Milan-San Remo for 2013, with snow on the Turchino forcing riders into team buses to divert around the dangerous roads. The disruption led to numerous abandons.
By the time the race reached the Cipressa, the group was down to some 40 riders. Peter Sagan tried his luck with an attack over the top of the Poggio, and was joined by Fabian Cancellara in reeling in earlier attackers Sylvain Chavanel and Ian Stannard.
Cancellara pulled back another attack from Sagan before the race came down to a seven-rider sprint, with Gerald Ciolek surprising Sagan with a bike throw to take the first major win for the MTN-Qhubeka team.
