SAN REMO, Italy \u2013 Germany\u2019s Gerald Ciolek outwitted the pre-race favorites to win a snowbound Milan-San Remo Classic on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The German former road race champion, 26, clinched his first major win for South African outfit MTN-Qhubeka in freezing weather.<\/p>\n
In the rain and cold, Ciolek beat Slovakia\u2019s Peter Sagan, the favorite at the outset, into second while Switzerland\u2019s Fabian Cancellara, the 2008 winner, had to be content with a podium finish for the third year in a row.<\/p>\n
\u201cI joined the team last year and people saw it as a bit of a surprise. And now I get the chance to score this first World Tour win for my team. It\u2019s unbelievable,\u201d said Ciolek.<\/p>\n
Milan-San Remo has been dubbed the Primavera, or spring race, but it was definitely still winter in the North of Italy, as snow halted the bunch at mid-race and the course had to be cut by 50 kilometers.<\/p>\n
The dreadful weather first forced the organisers to stop the race in Ovada after 118km and to miss the Turchino pass, which was covered in snow and impossible to ride.<\/p>\n
As frozen riders returned to their buses to be taken to the next starting point, another of the course\u2019s main ascents, the Manie climb, was also scrapped for security reasons.<\/p>\n
At the time of the interruption, six riders, Dane Lars Bak, Russian Maxim Belkov, Spain\u2019s Pablo Lastras along with Italians Filipo Fortin, Matteo Montaguti and Diego Rosa were in front, with a lead of more than seven minutes over the main bunch, a gap that was maintained at the restart.<\/p>\n