After the contentious inclusion of the Pompeiana, making victory almost impossible for a sprinter, it had to be removed due to landslides. There is no Le Manie either, after it was removed to make way for the new climb. The route changes mean the sprinters have one last chance for glory before the climbers and classics men get their chance in 2015.
With a number big name fast-men, including Mark Cavendish and André Greipel, joining the riders who’ve been training for San Remo since the winter, this year’s race is wide open. Throw in a splash of rain and it’s anyone’s game.
Fabian Cancellara and Peter Sagan will do battle again this weekend, but they’ve got many more rivals to contend with this time around.
Cavendish will be the main man for Omega Pharma-QuickStep, after Tom Boonen pulled out, but the Belgian team have another former winner in Alessandro Petacchi. BMC also look to have a very strong team with Philippe Gilbert and Taylor Phinney.
Born in Ireland to a cycling family and later moved to the Isle of Man, so there was no surprise when I got into the sport. Studied sports journalism at university before going on to do a Masters in sports broadcast. After university I spent three months interning at Eurosport, where I covered the Tour de France. In 2012 I started at Procycling Magazine, before becoming the deputy editor of Procycling Week. I then joined Cyclingnews, in December 2013.
