Today’s 104th edition of Milan-San Remo was nothing if not memorable.

Cold, rain and even snow weighed heavily on all the action from beginning to end of the first major classic on the WorldTour calendar. The organizers were even obliged to neutralize a large portion of the race between Oviedo and Cogoleto, cutting out the Turchino climb due to excessive snow, and the Le Manie climb because the roads were deemed way too dangerous on the descent.

With the largely modified race, IAM Cycling was caught out with blocked legs at the most important points of the day. Directeur Sportif Kjell Carlström confirmed this assessment when speaking after the finish.

“Our strategy was necessarily completely changed by the events precipitated by the horrible weather. Thomas Löfkvist performed well over the Cipressa and the Poggio, but when the accelerations started coming from Cancellara and the other favourites; he did not have the legs to hang on in order to remain in contention on the descent of the Poggio. Similarly for Heinrich Haussler, he was poorly placed when the climb became most difficult and then did not have the legs to make the juncture before the descent.”

Very disappointed with his 13th place, the Australian who showed his pedigree for this race when he took 2nd place in 2009, did not even want to discuss what transpired today, preferring to keep his anger as motivation for future dates in Belgium. With the GP E3 and Gent-Wevelgem next on his agenda, Haussler can look forward to having multiple opportunities to redeem himself, and make use of his excellent form.