End of an era
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ByEurosport
Published 21/03/2005 at 09:35 GMT
After a sixth consecutive sprint finish, organisers of Milan-San Remo plan to change the course next year. "We're thinking about it," Angelo Zomegnan told reporters after Alessandro Petacchi's victory in the 96th edition of the Primavera. Possibilities in
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"If you think about it, in ten years nothing has happened or not much, except for [Paolo] Bettini's escape two years ago in the Poggio, and the attack by the same Bettini this year in the descent from the Cipressa," Zomegnan told French newspaper L'Equipe.
"That means that if a top calibre champion feels obliged to attack in a descent, then the course lacks expression and it should be modified," he added after Saturday's 294-kilometre classic ended yet again on the Via Roma.
SLOW DOWN, YOU GO TOO FAST
The flat, narrow straight coastline roads mean that after six hours of racing, riders have to jockey for position before the course's few climbs, often with dangerous consequences:
Saturday's race saw one major crash at the approach of the Cipressa with most notably, Italian champion Cristiano Moreni finishing his day in an ambulance.
"It went really fast in the final hour," FDJeux's Australian sprinter Brad McGee said at the finish line.
However, some don't mind.
"I did a lot of work to be able to climb the Poggio," said Petacchi after his first victory in a major classic. " Sprinters these days are stronger and stronger," added runner-up Danilo Hondo.
YOU'VE GOT TO MAKE THE MOMENT LAST
The debate over the Primavera is nothing new:
The Poggio was added in the early 1960s to make the race harder, then the Cipressa some twenty years later.
Making the course more challenging shouldn't be too complicated with options as numerous as the flower-covered hills that overlook the Italian Riviera coastline.
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