2006 Milan-San Remo Line-Up

Here's my fantasy cycling team lineup for La Primavera this Sunday:

ASTARLOA Igor (ESP)
BERTAGNOLLI Leonardo (ITA)
DAVIS Allan (AUS)
FREIRE GOMEZ Oscar
GILBERT Philippe (BEL)
HUSHOVD Thor (NOR)
PELLIZOTTI Franco (ITA)
PETACCHI Alessandro (ITA)

You're only allowed 4000 UCI points which you have to allocate amongst 8 riders, so I chose Petacchi for my main favorite over Boonen, which gobbled up alot of my points. I had to use the rest of my points on mid-ranked riders that don't have the "superstar" status, but are good riders who also pack a strong sprint.

I picked Petachhi over Boonen b/c I don't think Boonen will factor in the race, since he's never been better than 8th, and Petacchi is an Italian racing on home soil - the "pride factor" should give him some extra zip. Boonen also has the odds against him b/c he's wearing the rainbow jersey. Milan-San Remo has only been won 5 times in 97 races by someone wearing the rainbow jersey (twice by Merckx). I don't see it happening.

Astarloa has notched a couple of top 6's. Philippe Gilbert was 6th in 2005 and he won Het Volk earlier this year. Hushovd is always strong and made the podium before. Allan Davis is sprinting well and has a strong team to support him. Freire has won it in the past and seems to be in good shape. Pelizotti has been in the top 10 a couple of times and might snatch some lower place points (you win points for the top 15 places). Bertagnilli beat Petacchi last week in a stage of Tirreno-Adriatico.

http://fantasy.cyclingnews.com/