The first Monument of the season saw Simon Gerrans (GreenEDGE) sprint to victory to claim the 2012 Milan-San Remo title. Here’s how La Classica di Primavera unfolded.
Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) started as pre-race favourite, while Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing) was among the riders ready to challenge the world champion, who eventually abandoned after being dropped on the slopes of Le Manie
Milan-San Remo is the longest one-day race in the professional calendar, following a 298km route along Italy’s north-west coast
A nine-man break went away early in the race
Carlos Quintero (Colombia-Coldeportes) was knocked unconscious after crashing, breaking his collar bone in the process, but the Colombian was discharged from hospital on Monday
Fabian Cancellara (Radioshack-Nissan-Trek) attacked on the final climb, the Poggio, with only Gerrans and Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) able to follow the Swiss national champion
And it was Gerrans who edged out Cancellara in the final sprint, with the chasing pack looming large
Gerrans succeeds fellow Australian and current GreenEDGE team-mate Matt Goss as Milan San-Remo champion
