Phew. At the end my lights just went totally out. On the Cipressa I totally fell apart. My oven was totally out. One of the biggest lessons that I learned at my Sanremo premiere? You have to eat, even when you aren’t hungry – and then eat even more. Especially in that kind of weather and that distance. But that kind of experience is what it was all about. I had a free role in the team and just wanted to learn. Of course I would have been happy if I had finished close to the front, but that was just not possible this time. I did ride it to the end, though, because I wanted to carefully see every meter under race conditions. The race is fantastic. I will be here again.

I wish all the best to Andre Greipel, who broke a collarbone in a crash. That is really a bad time for it to have happened to him.

Photos: roth-foto.de