Simon Gerrans wins Milan-San Remo by half a wheel ahead of Fabian Cancellara (Sirotti)

Did the strongest rider win Milan-San Remo? Some including Simon Gerrans say no. However Philip Gomes thinks the race winner was stronger if you use other definitions.

The strongest rider didn't win but that's bike racing. Congrats to @simongerrans for his win today.

— JohanBruyneel (@JohanBruyneel) March 17, 2012The above tweet by Johann Bruyneel was his response to a second consecutive victory by an Australian at Milan San Remo, but is it true? And what exactly does "strongest" mean in the context of a bike race?

I watched the race and closing moments of MSR several times and it looked to me like the strongest rider did win. Because strongest encompasses more than pure horse-power, something the renowned Fabian Cancellara has in spades.

Italian sprinter Mario Cipollini circa 1999 (Getty)

All cyclists meet retirement in their own way. Some, like Jacques Anquetil, the first man to win five Tours de France, climb off the saddle and never look back.

Anquetil reportedly rode a bike just three times after ending his racing career – and that includes the time he pedalled into a swimming pool as a stunt for his stepdaughter's birthday.

Mario Cipollini appears to be the other kind of ex-pro – the type who, for one, is unafraid to wear zebra stripes or a tiger outfit, and whose attitude towards retirement is roughly mirrored by his attitude to this motorcycle rider.

A pre-race interview with Australian Matt Goss before the 2011 Milan – San Remo is still one of the most vivid of my career to date.

I can’t recall any of the media hype in the build-up to that race - just Goss’s response when I asked him at the end of a telephone interview if he could win La Primavera.

“I don’t know,” he offered before hesitating briefly again.

“Yeah, I guess I do, I want to go there to win,” he concluded with what sounded like a hint of a smile.

Mark Cavendish (L) and defending champion Matt Goss (R) are two of the favourites for Milan San Remo (Sirotti)

Before the first of the five monuments gets underway this Saturday, Anthony Tan analyses the favourites and, well, the not-so-favourites.

With just under 36 hours to go before the 103rd edition of Milan-San Remo gets underway, I thought I’d review the major contenders and their odds to aid you in your quest to buy that €30 million (A$37M) home on the Côte d’Azur, which happens to be the cheapest waterfront villa listed for sale on the French Riviera at present.

I’ve taken these odds from Unibet’s betting site as of midnight Thursday – similar odds are displayed elsewhere, including TAB’s Sportsbet*.

The Favourites…

The Gillard Government recently came up with a new term to describe Australia’s economy; a patchwork economy.

A two-speed economy would assume that the resources sector leads growth, while others are lagging.

Economists then pegged the term -- a multi-speed economy -- meaning a number of industries are doing better than others.

But a patchwork economy seems to suggest that things are all over the place, and work needs to be done.

Veteran rider Jens Voigt (L) fight for the stage win with Luis Leon Sanchez (R) on the 5th stage of the Paris-Nice (AAP)

In swimming it’s the year of the comeback. In cycling it appears the at-or-near-40-somethings are losing none of their nerve or verve, some even enhancing their pizzazz. So, asks Anthony Tan, when is the time, then, to hang up the race wheels?

On Monday night, tuning in to the ABC’s ‘7.30’ program, I watched and listened to a report on Australia’s Olympic swimmers-in-waiting, who this week will face off against one another in a desperate bid for selection to the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Normally, I wouldn’t really give a rat’s about our swimmers, let alone comment about them – they get far too much exposure as it is at the expense of other sporting codes. But what piqued my interest was that four of the London wannabes have come out of retirement, namely Ian Thorpe, Geoff Heugill, Michael Klim and Libby Trickett.

“Retiring from sport is not an easy transition for any athlete. When you retire for the wrong reasons it can haunt you,” Grant Hackett wrote in last weekend’s Sydney Morning Herald, “and at some point you need to be honest with yourself.”

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney presses the flesh during a campaign stop in Alabama. (AP)

America runs on statistics. It could even be said that Americans can’t function without them.

This is most evident in media accounts of sporting contests – baseball and American football especially – where it’s possible to read an entire report and still have no idea what actually occurred.

There is no narrative, just impenetrable numbers.

But this is not always a bad thing. Statistics can often carve open an understanding of something where words just cloud an issue. Like, just who is voting for Presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

The road to Paris lies in front of Bradley Wiggins (Getty)

Matthew Keenan argues Bradley Wiggins is on track to winning the Tour de France if Team Sky places its bets on yellow.

"Yes," is the short answer to the headline.

But there are three major challenges, that Bradley Wiggins and/or Team Sky can control, that need to be overcome to turn that "yes" into a Tour de France winning reality – team balance, maintaining form and handling the pressure.

Team balance
Determining the division of resources at Sky will be a delicate process – Mark Cavendish for a bag full of stage wins and the green jersey or Wiggins and his tilt at yellow?

The fallen superstar endures another humiliation with the belated release of an unfunny comedy.

Could Eddie Murphy’s career sink any lower? Perhaps not in light of the critical panning and the cold shoulder from US audiences for his long-delayed comedy A Thousand Words.

Filmed in 2008, the DreamWorks production features Murphy as a self-absorbed, fast-talking literary agent who’s warned he will die if he utters a further 1,000 words.

Directed by Brian Robbins (who collaborated with Murphy on the flop Meet Dave and the hit Norbit), the film finally opened last Friday in the US and scored a zero approval rating among the critics polled by Rotten Tomatoes.

Andy Schleck rides against the clock in the opening time-trial at Paris-Nice (AAP)

After watching the progress of Andy Schleck this season Mike Tomalaris cannot see the three-time runner-up winning the Tour de France in 2012.

It’s official: I’ve given up on Andy Schleck!

Let me clarify by predicting Schlecky will not be standing on the podium in Paris at the end this year’s Tour de France.

Yes, it’s a big-call but I confess to never being a fan even though he’s finished runner-up in the world’s biggest race on three occasions.