IT Ain’t broke? Don’t fix it .

You’d think that, after being forced to remove the crumbling, decaying new Pompeiana climb from Milano-Sanremo before the race in March, RC S Sport would have taken it as a sign from the gods that it was a daft idea to add it in the first place. But no, it’s still in their plans for 2015. After thoroughly enjoying the 2014 edition, here’s my message to them…

Don’t do it! It isn’t too late. Nobody will think any less of you for reneging on a plan. Okay, bring back La Manie but no Pompeiana, got it? It would be akin to digging up the grass of Centre Court at Wimbledon and turning it into a hard court, or taking the jumps away from the Grand National horse race. It would catastrophically change the fabric of what people love about it. Yes, yes, I know, climbs have been inserted before that have added suspense but the difficulty of the Pompeiana so close to the finish would be a step too far. With the present route, everyone has a chance. No other major race on the calendar sees riders as disparate as Mark Cavendish, Fabian Cancellara and Vincenzo Nibali contest victory, which is what we saw this year.

Why this need to foil sprinters? Do you view them as some sort of sub-category of bike racer? As many bike racing fans enjoy the spectacle of a bunch sprint in full flight as they do a climber like Nibali soloing to victory, and what we had this year offered the possibility of both. And if adding the Pompeiana is an attempt to secure a long-awaited Italian victory with Nibali, I’d suggest one from your current crop of sprinters is as likely to win on the current route. So, RC S, sit down, pour a drink and stick on the final 25km of this year’s race. If you still believe it’s a race in need of such drastic alteration, I’d love to hear why.