Milan-Sanremo review:

Milan-Sanremo is probably my favourite Classic. It starts in the grey Milan, it ends in front of the sea. It is the longest Classic, but the name of the race winner is usually decided by the last 50 meters. It is a race made of allies, plans, strategies. And at the same time it is a race in which allies, plans and strategies count nothing at all.

Mark Cavendish was considered one of the race favourites yesterday morning. The Manx rider had a great team around him and he was ready to get his second victory in Sanremo, 3 years after his first success in La Classicissima. This is an important year for Cannonball: the Olympic Games in London, the world champion jersey, the responsibility and the honour of racing for a British team... He would have liked to shine yesterday afternoon, but his chances of winning Sanremo suddenly crashed against le Manie climb. The whole team Sky tried to help the Manx rider, but Mark couldn't get back on the peloton. And he still hasn't found a reason for his debacle.

Another rider who had big ambitions for yesterday race was Tom Boonen. The Belgian is ready to give his best this year and he's already achieved some victories in the first three months of the season. Unfortunately, yesterday he had a lot of bad luck: in fact a rider crashed in front of him during the crazy Poggio descent and Tommeke could do nothing but brake. Adieu Sanremo, adieu dreams of victories.

Good luck wasn't generous with the Belgians yesterday. Philippe Gilbert crashed on the Cipressa, whereas Greg Van Avermaet hit the ground with about 200 meters to go. The BMC rider had a heavy crash, just like the Italian promise Matteo Trentin. Luckily they didn't break anything during their crash and they'll probably be back on their bikes for GP Harelbeke and for Gand-Wevelgem.

Looking back at yesterday's newspapers, everyone expected a good result also from Fabian Cancellara. In 2008 the Swiss rider won Eroica and then he triumphed in Sanremo and this year he really wanted to repeat that wonderful double win. Still, the strongest riders doesn't always cross the finish-line in first, and that's what happened yesterday to Fabian.

Another rider who had great expectations for yesterday's race was Vincenzo Nibali. The Italian rider is an old-style athlete: he's one of the best riders of the peloton from February to October and he takes part both in Classics and in Grand Tours. He still hasn't decided which Grand Tour to race this year and so far he's living day by day: a victory at Tour of Oman, a victory at Tirreno-Adriatico... Vincenzo has often said that he would love to win Milan-Sanremo, although this race doesn't actually suit him: Nibali in fact is a climber, not a sprinter or a particuarly powerful time trialist. Still, yesterday he was up there, together with his team: Liquigas had an exceptional line-up, with guys like Agnoli, Viviani and Oss ready to help their captains and a talented guy like Sagan ready to ruin the party of the older sprinters. Peter is an exceptional athlete and, in spite of being born in 1990, yesterday he showed that he can keep the pace of the best riders even after 300 kms of race. A thing that not many young riders can actually do.

In front of the great quantity of champions ready to battle on the Milan-Sanremo parcours, journalists and supporters had a lot of fun picking their favourites and imagining how the race would unfold. Still, most people forgot to remember Matthew Goss, the Australian rider who won the Classicissima last year. The GreenEdge rider probably didn't mind about it: not being considered amongst the favourites can be irritating, but it allows riders to stay more relaxed.

Talking about GreenEdge, on Friday evening there was another Australian ready to tackle Milan-Sanremo: the 'climbing sprinter' Simon Gerrans, who had showed a wonderful form already at Tour Down Under. Yesterday morning the national champion was probably ready to help his teammate Goss and he probably didn't imagine that in a few hours time his career would have changed forever.

The race started in a fast way, like always. On le Manie Cavendish got dropped and, in spite of Team Sky's TTT, he didn't manage to close the gap from the peloton and he simply got retired. At the end of le Manie descent, then, a few moments of panic: the Colombian rider Quintero in fact crashed against a wall and everyone (supporters, journalists, colleagues) immediately feared the worst. Luckily the Colombia rider suffered just a broken collarbone as 'souvenir' from his Classicissima.

The race became very hectic, as usual, on the Poggio. Agnoli attacked, followed by Hoogerland (surprising, isn't it?) and Madrazo. As soon as those riders were caught by the peloton pulled by Rabobank, another move was made: this time it was Nibali who attacked, followed by Fabian Cancellara and Simon Gerrans. Two of the men that everyone expected to attack, plus one man who most of the people didn't expect at all. Poggio is not a difficult climb, so Nibali couldn't make the difference. Gerrans, an exceptional all-round rider, immediately jumped on his wheel, just like Cancellara. It was impressive to see the Swiss rider closing the gap from Nibali without problems and it was even more impressive to see him riding down the Poggio descent like a missile.

The downhill road that every year leads the riders from the summit of the Poggio to the center Sanremo always offers us one of the most adrenalinic and poetic moments of the season. After 295 kms of race the riders are tired, yet they are able to face such a narrow downhill without crashing. The supporters watch the riders descending at full speed and they're always fascinated by such a dangerous and thrilling show. They cross their fingers, hope for the best, have a sigh of relief once the fastest riders reach the via Aurelia again. Still, for the unlucky athletes there's no time to relax, there's no time to reflect: the finish-line is just around the corner and they know that after 299 kms of race they have just 1000 meters to paint their masterpiece, to trace the limit between the heaven of victory and the hell of defeat.

Yesterday afternoon, with just 1000 kms to go, Cancellara was pulling hard, like usual. Gerrans helped him for a few seconds, whereas Nibali was waiting for Sagan: Vincenzo's not fast, he knew that there were just 1000 meters to go, he knew that he, Cancellara and Gerrans had just 5" of advantage and he knew that his fast and young teammate was right behind him.

With about 300 meters to go, the young and brave Degenkolb began a desperate sprint in order to close the gap from the leading trio, as Trentin and Van Avermaet heavily crashed on the background of the scene. Fabian Cancellara had 'acid lactic coming out of his ears', but he didn't stop pulling and, in the end, he was oversprinted by the rider that no one expected to see in the final of the Classicissima. The Swiss train was oversprinted by Simon Gerrans, whereas Vincenzo Nibali crossed the finish-line in  3rd. 'It will take a long time for this to sink in', an emotional Gerrans kept on telling the journalists as soon as the race was over. The sprint for the 4h place came and went in the meanwhile: Sagan won it in front of the generous Degenkolb, of the surprising Pozzato, of the good old Freire. The future belongs to that boy, no doubts about that.

Fabian Cancellara wasn't particularly happy at the end of the race: just like in last year Roubaix he was probably the strongest, and just like in last year Roubaix he didn't win. Still, chapeau to Simon Gerrans: he was lucky to find a super Cancellara on his way, but he was also cunning and very cold-minded when it came to sprinting. A rider who wins a 300 kms race is always a champion, no matter if he wasn't included in the 'race favourites' du jour. Simon was cool-minded, managed to close a 20 meters gap from Cancellara during the descent from Poggio (if you're not a great rider, you can't do something like that) and in the end he even helped the Swiss rider in the last km of race. Simon was smart, was brave and, in the end, he was also fast: a wonderful victory for the little Australian, who is one of the few riders in the peloton that have won stages at the Tour, at the Giro and also at la Vuelta.

So, this was the 2012 Classicissima. 300 kms of drama, excitement, hope, fear, joy and disappointment on a road towards the sea. And now, the show moves to the North of Europe. Next week it will be a completely different scenario, with different riders all looking for the same result. Once again, we'll have another great race. The 2012 Classics season has begun, let us enjoy the show.