With Passo del Turchino and Le Manie removed from the course, Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) had a golden opportunity to win his second Milan-Sanremo. In the final the team played the attacking card with Sylvain Chavanel, and Cavendish ended up 9th. He was happy to see the team stick to its pre-race tactics.

In the lead-up to Milan-Sanremo, Mark Cavendish had significantly downplayed the prospects of a repeat of his 2009 triumph on Lungomare Italo Calvino in Sanremo. With the tendency of plenty of teams putting down the hammer on the climb of Le Manie, his days as a genuine Sanremo contender were gone.

The weather circumstances may have been an unpleasant experience for most, but for Cavendish the cancellation of the Passo del Turchino and - more importantly - Le Manie handed him a golden opportunity to enter the history books as a double winner.

However, his chances were severely hampered by the decision of cobbled classics specialists Tom Boonen, Niki Terpstra and Stijn Vandenbergh not to reenter the race after his temporary suspension. With just 4 teammates at his side, it was significantly more complicated for the team to take up any pace-making duties.

As a consequence, the team hid in the peloton for most of the race until Sylvain Chavanel went on the attack on the Cipressa climb. That attack proved unsuccessful, and at the top Chavanel was the only of Cavendish' teammate still left in the group.

The team chose to send the Frenchman up the road in another attack on the descent instead of focusing all their energy on securing a sprint finish in Sanremo. Chavanel ended up in a group with Ian Stannard (Sky) and Eduard Vorganov (Katusha), and with Stannard he managed to join up with a select group of favourites to create the final 6-man escape that fought out the win.

Cavendish did his job by getting over the Poggio in the main group, but had to sprint for the minor places and ended up 9th. He was, however, that the team stuck to its pre-race strategy and not changed to accommodate his own improved chances.

"It was cold, but I was OK," he said. "It wasn’t easy to get back on the bike again, but it was the same for everyone who started. What kept me going was the possibility of winning Milano – Sanremo.  We started and we gave everything. I had support from everyone, including Chava. I mean, we went with the plan. We didn’t come away with the win, but I’m happy with how we stuck to the plan of Chavanel going off the front."

Gerald Ciolek (MTN-Qhubeka) managed to foil the favourites and took an incredible victory for his small African team. It came as a surprise for many, but as a former teammate Cavendish was not among those.

"Ciolek winning wasn’t surprising," he explained. "He’s the Under 23 World Champion (in 2006, ed.), one of the most talented bike riders I know. He’s definitely come back this year. He’s won a few races and he’s right back up there. He’s a super guy and I’m really happy for him."

Cavendish will now turn his attention to his second major classics objective, Gent-Wevelgem, which takes place on Sunday.