Milan-Sanremo and I Riccardo Magrini, the "Skinny”, arrives at my house on time at 6.15, perhaps even a few minutes before. The Sanremo is the race to which he is most connected. He raced the Sanremo ten times during his career and though he never won, he raced alongside Eddy Merckx there for the first time. He was stuck to Merckx up to the Turchino, trying to understand how come the Belgian champ had such an amazing strength. The Cannibal for sure, but also monsieur Sanremo, considering his seven triumphs. Sheer madness. Indeed, prodigal stuff. The Milan-Sanremo is a race which enchants and captivates. Riccardo can’t sleep at night if he thinks about it. Today we have to provide the commentary of the race, at the finish line of Via Roma. A historic first time for me, and the same for Riccardo, who in 15 years of career as television commentator, has commentated the World Cup and the Tour of Flanders, but never the Super Classic. If I feel like a child on the carousel of an amusement park, he’s not far off. He couldn’t sleep. It even happened last year, in 2018, when Nibali won. It was a stormy day. At least in Milan there was heavy rain. It was cold and grey with a dark sky. We were at Castello square to test the atmosphere and the face of cyclists.The Belgian cyclists, born and raised with the rain and wind, seemed to be as comfortable as they where enjoying a coffee at a bar. The others were more worried and afraid. It’s not an ideal beginning, starting off with these conditions and thinking about having to face 300km ahead. I hate bad weather and can only imagine what a cyclist would think of that. I considered them heroes. Despite those who criticize them for doping or other nonsense, it’s clear that whoever does this job is a great athlete. That's it! Riccardo and I went toward the bus of teams and suddenly we saw Vincenzo Nibali looking ready and super focused. We tried to say Hi to him but he just passed by, already in a tense and competitive mood. A race such as this is not, on paper, his ‘thing’. But the beauty of the Milan-Sanremo is precisely this: At the start everyone has a chance to win it because it’s unpredictable. Then, usually, super champions win. But predicting correctly is one of the most difficult things to do. Shortly Nibali “The Shark” went away. “The Skinny” turned around to me and said: “Oh, did you see his face?! Oh my God...”. I nodded, but I remained skeptical about Vincenzo’s chances. We went toward the start, talked with Cavendish and Gilbert and then we went home, because we would commentate from the editorial office. Obviously 2018's Sanremo was won by Vincenzo Nibali. What great proof of his talent which allowed him to finish the race all alone, with arms raised, in Via Roma. A Champion.
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