Milan-San Remo: Gerald Ciolek wins epic race after snow wreaks early havoc

Gerald Ciolek: Outsprinted Peter Sagan on the line

The German pipped hot favourite Peter Sagan to the line by half a wheel to hand South African team MTN-Qhubeka the biggest win of their short existence, with Fabian Cancellara finishing third.

Team Sky's Ian Stannard claimed sixth after engineering a late breakaway with a monstrous effort, and Mark Cavendish made it two Britons in the top 10 by sprinting to ninth.

But just as memorable as the thrilling finale was the weather, which wreaked havoc in the early stages and saw a 55km chunk of the 298km route neutralised because of snow.

Frozen riders with helmets covered in a thick layer of ice climbed off their bikes after 117km and were driven in their team buses to Cogoleto 126km from the finish line, where the weather was still wet but snow-free.

Tom Boonen and Vincenzo Nibali were among a host of riders who abandoned the race because of the cold, but those that remained delivered a compelling finale.

Ciolek charge

Ciolek played his cards beautifully, first joining an elite breakaway group initiated by Stannard, and then allowing Sagan to lead out a six-man sprint before emerging from his slipstream to claim victory.

The German said afterwards: "It is unbelievable. This is an unbelievable success for us and just an incredible day. We just came here as a wildcard and now we are standing here with the trophy.

"This is great. I knew I had to follow all the best riders on the Poggio and it worked out perfectly."

The riders rolled out of Milan for the season's first Monument in cold and wet conditions, but the weather deteriorated as the route headed south-west and they were soon racing in heavy snow and ice.

Up ahead, the climb of Passo del Turchino at mid-distance was being covered in a thick layer of snow and with racing not possible in such conditions, organisers took the decision to neutralise the race 25km prior in Ovada.

Riders duly climbed off their bikes and stepped aboard team buses with their faces distorted by the cold and helmets coated in ice.

The restart was initially set for the coastal town of Arenzano, but it was later moved to Cogoleto, with the crucial climb of La Manie bypassed.

Stannard to the fore

The day's six-man breakaway was allowed to resume with the gap of seven minutes 10 seconds that they had built up before the neutralisation, and they held out until 30km, eventually buckling under relentless pressure from Team Sky.

An innocuous crash all but ruled out Geraint Thomas' hopes of victory, but Stannard soon took up the British charge.

The Team Sky rider first helped reel in an attack from world champion Philippe Gilbert on the descent of the day's penultimate climb, the Cipressa, and then attacked himself to form a three-man breakaway with Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step) and Eduard Vorganov (Katusha).

Only Stannard and Chavanel were left at the top of the concluding Poggio climb, but the duo were eventually caught 2.9km from the finish by a four-man group containing Sagan (Cannondale), Cancellara (RadioShack-Leopard), Luca Paolini (Katusha) and Filippo Pozzato (Lampre-Merida).

Stannard found the energy to attack again 1.7km from home, but he was hauled back by Sagan, who consequently led out the sprint but was overtaken at the death by the charging Ciolek.

Milan-San Remo result

1 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) MTN-Qhubeka, 5:37.20
2 Peter Sagan (Svk) Cannondale, same time
3 Fabian Cancellara (Sui) RadioShack-Leopard, st
4 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step, st
5 Luca Paolini (Ita) Katusha, st
6 Ian Stannard (GB) Team Sky, st
7 Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC, st
8 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha, +14secs
9 Mark Cavendish (GB) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step, st
10 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Team Sky, st