As in previous years, the 293-kilometer Milan-Sanremo came to a dramatic crescendo in the final 25 kilometers beginning with the ascent of the Cipressa and culminating with the climb and hair-pin descent of the Poggio.

With the rain stopped and roads predominantly dry and every late escape neutralized it was a 30-strong bunch that stormed into the final 2-kilometer flat run-in to the finish.

Over the line, John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpacin) sprinted to the prestigious win for the first Monument of 2105 as last year’s victor Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) settled for runner-up. Michael Matthews (Orica GreenEdge) completed the podium in third.

Fabian Cancellara, who has been second or third the past four years straight, was out-foxed this year in the finale by the faster legs of sprinters and ended with a disappointing seventh place. 

“If you look ahead of me there are six world-class sprinters, and I am the first non-traditional sprinter, in a way,” pointed out Cancellara. “I don’t have the absolute instinct to find the right spot and to know when you can feel when someone is coming, and I got a little bit locked in on the right side. I made a mistake there and it’s disappointing because I had good legs.

“I was in a really good place with 500 meters to go but then the riders came from the left side and closed me, and like professional sprinters they would never open the door again, and that was my own luck.

“I checked out who was behind me, and it was not right, and the moment was gone in a milli-second to make a late attack.  This race is always the most tactical of the entire year, there are tons of possibilities, and maybe I waited too long in the sprint, or….there are more questions than answers.

“I was also lucky I didn’t crash because Philippe Gilbert crashed just in front of me in a corner and I almost went down. Like I said you need a lot of luck and tactics to come together at the end.”

Trek Factory Racing went into the nearly seven-hour contest with a game plan firmly in hand, and as the race unfolded the team executed well: Eugenio Alafaci’s tireless work aiding the chase of the day’s 11-man breakaway, Julian Arrendondo setting a fierce pace on the final climbs, and Fabio Felline guarding Fabian Cancellara over the Poggio – every single teammate played his part, from doting over Cancellara with continuous bottles, food and clothing, to closing dangerous gaps at race end.

“In the end we stuck to our game plan, but we couldn’t finish it off well in the sprint,”said General Manager Luca Guercilena. “I think we could have made that better. Of course for us it is better to try and go solo in the finale, and that was always our goal, but with a 44km/h average it was not so easy to do.”

For the team, it was not the result they hoped for, but soon after race end a philosophical Cancellara was already looking forward:

“The shape is great and now I close the day and look forward to Belgium. It’s going to be very interesting for the next weeks because the field is really deep - lots of contenders, lots of teams with strong ambitions and it's clear that everyone has had a good winter.  It’s going to be a very open spring campaign.”