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Who is the Rider of the Year?

Nibali

Valverde

Sagan

Froome

Thomas

S. Yates

Dumoulin

Terpstra

Pinot

Viviani

 

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A Poet In Sanremo

Giovanni Pascoli (1855 - 1912), an Italian poet, talked about the Poetica del fanciullino (Poetics of the child) which he described as the unceasing capability to get stunned by the world, typical of childhood.
Pascoli opposed both the renunciation of self-analysis and the abandonment of the self-centered point of view, in favor of a semi-irrational comfort which the poet gives himself through poetry.
What Nibali did yesterday on the Poggio was exactly the same, he applied the Poetics of the child to cycling.
In these days, dominated by Watts, computers, data analysis and science, Nibali abandoned both a strict data analysis and a self-centered point of view, attacking with an irrational comfort, just based on his own sensation powered by the magic climb on which he was, the Poggio.
The moment Nibali crossed the finish line, every single witness of this incredible feat started crying, the child inside us had been woken up by this incredible champion that showed the world that, sometimes, a poet can still beat science.
Chapeau Nibali and thank you for waking up our inner fanciullino.

The Legend of Peter Sagan - Milano-Sanremo 2017

I've alwaye heared old people saying: "yes, nowadays there are good riders, but when there was Coppi..." or "but when there was Merckx...".
Nobody can say this anymore watching Sagan riding his bike.
Sagan is able to do romantic feat in a cycling dominated by technology and mathematics.
What he did on the Poggio during the 2017 Milano-Sanremo has been something that will remain in the history of this sport.
Milano-Sanremo in recent years has become a sprinter Classic and organizers where thinking about modify the route. This is not necessary anymore, you need champions, not route modifications in order to have great races again.
Yesterday the plot of all the romantic masterpieces was respected once again, the main hero didn't win, beaten by a clever and strong rider, the former World Champion before the Sagan's era.
I don't think this is the start of a new dualism, Sagan is simply The Hero and will have to face many different riders trying to defeat him.
Kwiatkowski deserved his Victory, he won in the only way he could against The Hero and will be remembered in the Milano-Sanremo winners list, but Sagan will be always remembered as The Legend and his presence in the Winners list of the various races will be just in the back burner.
Sagan doesn't know the cycling history, they say, It doesn't matter, It is more important making it.

Milano - Sanremo Preview

Next Saturday is the day of the Classicissima, the spring World championship.
The charm of this race is unique.
It is apparently the easiest of the World Tour calendar, but concretely is the hardest because is absolutely unpredictable. If you want to win the Classicissima you have to choose the correct strategy and you don't have time to adjust an eventual strategy mistake.
As part of the race is on the road made by the Ancient Romans, allow me a Latin quote that perfectly describes the strategy situation in which every rider will find himself: "electa una via, non datur recusus ad alteram".
This is exactly what happens during the Milano-Sanremo: If you choose to attack on the Poggio, you know you won't have enough energies to make a proper sprint.

Passed the Turchino you start a nice ride on the legendary and generally sunny Aurelia, does exist a better way to welcome the spring after a cold winter? That is the question.
The answer is not so easy, the kilometres on the Aurelia are an inexorable wait for the explosive final. You spend these long kilometres on the coast just revising your strategy, studying your opponents and praying. The Aurelia is the place of the soul for the riders starting the Classics campaign.
In such an unpredictable and enchanted race, every single rider can dream to succeed and this is exactly what happens at the start.
The start of Milano-Sanremo is the place of the secret desires.
Everybody dreams to win and, in the depths of  his soul, is adjusting his strategy. Even the last helper of the weakest team thinks about winning the Milano-Sanremo at the start, because history showed us that this has already happened and it will happen again.

Here you can find a quick recognition of a part of the Aurelia the riders are going to tread next Saturday.