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Milano-Sanremo, Italy

18 March, 294K

Pippo with Attention to Detail

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Filippo Pozzato (Quick-Step) won the 2006 Milano-Sanremo with attention to detail. He precisely marked Alessandro Ballan (Lampre-Fondital) when the Italian jumped on the Poggio, did just enough to make the escape survive, and then went clear with 300 meters remaining on the Via Roma. "Finalmente" said the rider from Veneto, only 24 years-old and a huge victory in front of Petacchi, Paolini and teammate Boonen.

"I believe that this is the best moment of my life," said Filippo Pozzato (Quick-Step) while being mobbed. "... I worked well in the break, and I also did not waste energy. I kept hope when we were in the escape. We played games in the final kilometer and lost time... and then I went at the last second... We have such a strong squad and it was thanks to them. Tom and Paolo are so happy for me. It is a nice feeling."

"The people believed in me," said the 24 year-old rider from Veneto. "This win is a dream come true for me. I am content for my fan club that are here, and my parents. It is a huge satisfaction for me. This is worth all of the sacrifices over the winter. Boonen was super, he and Paolo just sat back and let me have my time in the break. Both the World and Olympic Champion were working for me!" And now you have won Sanremo! "Finalmente!"

It was a cool and crisp morning in Piazza Sant'Ambrogio when the riders signed-in for the 97th Milano-Sanremo, but that did not stop the tifosi from attending. The fashionable Milanese watched the color of the international peloton depart from Milano for one of cycling's grandest races.

Attacks were the name of the game until an eight man move formed near Pavia, 30K into the 294K race. The escape group were: Daniele Contrini (LPR), Unai Etxebarria (Euskaltel), Staf Scheirlinckx (Cofidis), Ludovic Auger (Française Des Jeux), Kjell Carlström (Liquigas), Mirko Allegrini, Sergiy Matveyev (Panaria), and Giampaolo Cheula (Barloworld).

By the base of the Passo del Turchino, 125K, they had amassed a lead of 11'30". Over the top of the 180 meter pass they held on to a 10' lead, but they would need way more than that to stay clear to Sanremo. They did manage to stay clear until the live TV coverage, which is something. With teams like Milram, Rabobank, Quick-Step and Lampre-Fondital turning up the heat, their time was soon to be over.

Lampre was doing huge pace-making for an in-form Ballan. The blue-pink boys were helped by the orange squadra, Rabobank. Together, over the Capi (Capo Mele, Capo Cervo, Capo Berta), the two squadras tore down the gap to the eight-man move. We had a gruppo compatto heading to the final two important climbs of the day: Cipressa and Poggio.

The 5.7K Cipressa helped make the selection on the rear, and showed the tifosi who were the strong men, but it really did not give us any serious escapes. Stefano Garzelli (Liquigas) threw a stiff punch that stuck for about one kilometer, before Fränk Schleck (Team CSC) gave it gas to bridge.

Behind him the favorites were all towards the front, Astarloa, Rebellin, Bettini, Boonen, Petacchi Astarloa and Pippo. Even the Green Bullet in Black, Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears). The Spaniard was one of the few wearing arm-warmers, making for an all-black affair. He must think that Italy is cold compared to his home in the south of Spain.

The lead group of around thirty made their way through the tight city streets of Costarainera and over the top of the Cipressa. Il Grillo, Bettini, was wisely on the front for the tricky descent. He kept checking over his shoulder to see the where-abouts of Boonen as he guided the group down the Cipressa.

Between the two climbs Koos Moerenhout (Phonak) formed a small group of four with Schleck. Their move lasted until the start of the Poggio. The Luxembourg Champion, Schleck, put in a bid for freedom. Schleck's move looked like it might have had potential, but BiciRace.com thinks he went a little early.

Rabobank started whipping up the pace in the first kilometer of the Poggio to keep attacks at a minimum. This rhythm did not stop Alessandro Ballan (Lampre-Fondital) from starting the day's winning move. The Italian's attack was joined by Filippo Pozzato and then Igor Astarloa (Barloworld). The three made it to the top of the Poggio, 5.7K to go to the finish, with Schleck, Rinaldo Nocentini (Acqua & Sapone) and Samuel Sánchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) right behind.

On the ribbon-like descent the six-man escaped gave it full power. With the presence of Pozzato in the escape the majority of the work behind was forced on Milram. Fabio Sacchi and Erik Zabel were thundering down the descent to bring back the move for Petacchi. Their efforts looked a little under-powered and the six had a chance.

After the descent of the Poggio, at -2K, the boys only had 8" in hand. It started to look over when the cat-n-mouse games commenced. Ballan gave it a go and then Sánchez, but their legs were just too tired to stay off the front. The gruppo was closing and it looked to be over for the escape, but then Nocentini went.

Pippo immediately followed the Acqua & Sapone rider, like he did with Ballan on the Poggio, and shot past. He had 300 meters to go, a long three thundered meters. Pippo ripped towards the arrivo while Ale-Jet was forced to launch an early and desperate sprint. Petacchi's sprint would not be enough to catch the Quick-Step rider, it was only good enough for second.

Pippo's teammates celebrated as they crossed the line. Quick-Step, who many thought would battle with Bettini and Boonen, capitalized on the day with Pippo. The 24 year-old won La Classicissima.

Results: 6:29'41", 45.27 K/h
1 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Quick-Step
2 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Milram
3 Luca Paolini (Ita) Liquigas
4 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick-Step
5 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
6 Oscar Freire (Spa) Rabobank
7 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Liquigas
8 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
9 Martin Elmiger (Swi) Phonak
10 Matteo Carrara (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
11 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Barloworld
12 David Kopp (Ger) Gerolsteiner
13 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole
14 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner
15 Andreas Klier (Ger) T-Mobile
16 Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) Phonak
17 Marcus Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner
18 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Davitamon-Lotto
19 Allan Davis (Aus) Liberty Seguros-Würth
20 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team CSC
21 Erik Zabel (Ger) Milram
22 Uros Murn (Slo) Phonak
23 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Française Des Jeux
24 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
25 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team CSC
26 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
27 Murilo Fischer (Bra) Naturino-Sapore di Mare
28 Roger Hammond (GBr) Discovery Channel
29 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
30 Cristian Moreni (Ita) Cofidis
31 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Discovery Channel
32 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française Des Jeux
33 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) Acqua & Sapone
34 Michael Barry (Can) Discovery Channel 0.05
35 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner
36 Xavier Florencio (Spa) Bouygues Telecom
37 Constantino Zaballa (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
38 Mario Aerts (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
39 Iñaki Flores (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
40 Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa) Rabobank
41 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner
42 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC
43 Andy Flickinger (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
44 Iván Gutiérrez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
45 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) Ag2R Prévoyance
46 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Cofidis
47 Leonardo Bertagnolli (Ita) Cofidis
48 Luca Mazzanti (Ita) Panaria-Navigare
49 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
50 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Crédit Agricole
51 Pedro Horrillo (Spa) Rabobank
52 Frédéric Guesdon (Fra) Française Des Jeux
53 Massimiliano Gentili (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare
54 Ángel Gómez Gómez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
55 Alexandr Arekeev (Rus) Acqua & Sapone
56 Guido Trenti (USA) Quick-Step
57 Walter Bénéteau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
58 Andrea Moletta (Ita) Gerolsteiner
59 Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger) T-Mobile
60 Bert Grabsch (Ger) Phonak
61 Pablo Lastras (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
62 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
63 Vicente Reynes (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
64 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth
65 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Phonak
66 Gregory Rast (Swi) Phonak
67 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Liberty Seguros-Würth
68 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) Crédit Agricole
69 Guido Trentin (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir
70 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas
71 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Liberty Seguros-Würth
72 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis
73 Erik Dekker (Ned) Rabobank
74 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Milram
75 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick-Step 0.16
76 Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe) Team CSC 0.25
77 Mikhaylo Khalilov (Ukr) Team LPR
78 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Team CSC
79 Rubén Pérez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
80 Gorazd Stangelj (Slo) Lampre-Fondital
81 Pedro Arreitunandia (Spa) Barloworld 0.42
82 David López García (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.48
83 Giuliano Figueras (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 0.49
84 Miguel Angel Perdiguero (Spa) Phonak
85 Rubens Bertogliati (Swi) Saunier Duval-Prodir 0.56
86 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank
87 Christophe Brandt (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 1.13
88 Ángel Vicioso (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth
89 Serguei Ivanov (Rus) T-Mobile
90 Cristian Gasperoni (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare
91 Leonardo Giordani (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare 1.37
92 Davide Bramati (Ita) Quick-Step 1.51
93 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Ag2R Prévoyance 1.57
94 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 2.03
95 Dario Pieri (Ita) Team LPR 2.24
96 Stephan Schreck (Ger) T-Mobile 2.29
97 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance
98 Paolo Fornaciari (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
99 Sergiy Matveyev (Ukr) Panaria-Navigare
100 José Joaquín Rojas (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth
101 Daniele Contrini (Ita) Team LPR 2.42
102 Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 2.57
103 Marco Velo (Ita) Milram 3.17
104 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quick-Step
105 Hugo Sabido (Por) Barloworld
106 Robert Hunter (RSA) Phonak
107 Giosuè Bonomi (Ita) Barloworld 3.56
108 Massimo Giunti (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare 5.11
109 Francisco José Ventoso (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 6.15
110 Bradley McGee (Aus) Française Des Jeux 6.55
111 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance 7.01
112 Cyril Dessel (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance
113 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Crédit Agricole
114 Beñat Albizuri (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
115 Marco Pinotti (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir
116 Matthew White (Aus) Discovery Channel
117 Francesco Bellotti (Ita) Crédit Agricole
118 Henk Vogels (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto
119 Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) Milram
120 Andrea Masciarelli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone
121 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
122 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank
123 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Quick-Step
124 Franck Renier (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
125 Mauricio Soler (Col) Acqua & Sapone
126 Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare
127 Allan Johansen (Den) Team CSC
128 Pavel Padrnos (Cze) Discovery Channel
129 Mark Scanlon (Irl) Ag2R Prévoyance
130 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
131 Mauro Facci (Ita) Barloworld
132 Alexander Efimkin (Rus) Barloworld
133 Leif Hoste (Bel) Discovery Channel
134 Joseba Albizu (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
135 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
136 Christophe Mengin (Fra) Française Des Jeux
137 Thierry Marichal (Bel) Cofidis
138 Fortunato Baliani (Ita) Panaria-Navigare
139 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir
140 Jörg Jaksche (Ger) Liberty Seguros-Würth
141 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Panaria-Navigare
142 Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Liberty Seguros-Würth
143 Volodimir Gustov (Ukr) Team CSC
144 Giairo Ermeti (Ita) Team LPR
145 Paride Grillo (Ita) Panaria-Navigare 8.10
146 Emanuele Sella (Ita) Panaria-Navigare
147 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) T-Mobile 8.26
148 Mirko Allegrini (Ita) Panaria-Navigare 9.30
149 Dimitri Konyshev (Rus) Team LPR
150 Giuseppe Palumbo (Ita) Acqua & Sapone
151 Andrea Rossi (Ita) Acqua & Sapone
152 Matteo Priamo (Ita) Panaria-Navigare
153 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Crédit Agricole
154 Andrus Aug (Est) Acqua & Sapone
155 Unai Etxebarria (Ven) Euskaltel-Euskadi
156 Olivier Bonnaire (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
157 Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
158 Giuseppe Muraglia (Ita) Team LPR
159 Ludovic Auger (Fra) Française Des Jeux
160 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Cofidis 10.48
161 Giampaolo Cheula (Ita) Barloworld
162 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance